I Pledge My Soul
by YourFavoriteCONTRACTOR
Summary: During a battle Ladybug is seriously wounded and an Akuma is about to take her Miraculous. Chat's transformation has worn off and he has no cheese to recharge and help her. As a last resort Adrien begs Plagg to lend him more power. Plagg reveals there is a way, but it comes with a heavy price. His soul.
1. The Vow

Adrien sighed staring at the paper in front of him. No matter how he tried, he couldn't make the words come. He tossed the crossed out lines and poorly worded, half formed poems in the trash before glancing at the clock. He groaned. He was supposed to meet up with Ladybug as his alter ego Chat Noir and he still hadn't re-mustered the courage to tell her his feelings. He sighed again slouching in his computer chair. Plagg; for once, was quiet; he had fallen asleep in the bottom of an empty cheese tin. Adrien slipped out of the computer chair and paced. He had to find a way to prove his love to her. On more than one occasion Ladybug had accused him of being an outrageous flirt, which got to him more than he liked to admit. He walked over to the cheese tin and poked the sleeping Kwami lightly rousing him.

"Wake up you cheese glutton, we have to go." He mumbled. Plagg groaned and rolled over blinking up at the boy.

"I'm not going to do it." He muttered before going back to sleep. Adrien rolled his eyes and lifted the Kwami out of the tin.

"If you don't wake up on your own I'm going to transform with you asleep." He hissed. Plagg roused with a glare.

"You humans are so demanding. Come back in five minutes, yeah?" He compromised.

"We have to meet Ladybug." Adrien prompted. Plagg groaned.

"Fine." Plagg mumbled in agreement before Adrien released him and he floated in place, "By any chance did you finish that poem you were working on?" Plagg taunted casting a glance at the trash bin. "Oh, I guess not. Too bad." He laughed.

"I'll just have to give it to her without a poem." Adrien decided, "I'll think of something to say when I give it to her… but for now… Transform! Chat Noir!" He posed as the Kwami flew into his ring allowing him to transform into his alter-ego. Chat scooped up his gift to Ladybug and launched himself out of the window and across the rooftops.

He found Ladybug waiting for him, scanning the city. The soft evening light highlighted her like and angel and his heart melted.

"Good evening, my Lady." Chat bowed as he landed next to her. She gave a soft laugh.

"Evening Chat." She replied, she turned her attention toward him.

"Does my Lady perhaps know what day it is?" He hinted with a grin. Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"The day you stop flirting with me perhaps, little kitty?" She smirked. Chat faked being hurt.

"Such cruel words; but never fear, Chat Noir is here." He presented her with the gift.

"What is the meaning of this?" She raised a brow as she took the present.

"Why it's our anniversary of course. Did you think I would forget the day we became partners, my Lady? Non-non, it is a very important day for me." He smiled. To his surprise Ladybug blushed.

"Oh is it?" Then she blushed harder. "I have nothing for you Chat… I'm sorry." She hid behind the present.

"Your company is merely enough." He assured, "but perhaps a kiss would satisfy your faithful companion?" He fished. Ladybug peeked back over the present with a glare. "Perhaps not." Chat drooped, "but please, the present, your happiness will be my reward." He purred. Ladybug rolled her eyes; something she did a lot around Chat, before opening the present.

"Oh… it's beautiful." She smiled before pulling out the necklace, as small silver chain with a black cat on the end. Its tail hung from the chain but its body was curled around a ladybug as if both protecting and nuzzling it. An engraving on the back read, "With all my Luck-CN." Ladybug giggled, causing Chat to tilt his head in a very cat-like way.

"You don't have too much luck to be giving away there, Chat." She teased coming close and kissing Chat on the forehead.

"But to you I would give it, my Lady." Chat grinned. "Allow me." She held her hair out of the way and he took the necklace and draped it around her neck. "Consider it my good luck charm to you, a token to remember me by," he crooned.

"Thank you, Chat. It is more than kind of you." Ladybug smiled. "Shall we?" She gestured to the rooftops indicating that they should start their patrol for the night.

"I would follow you to the ends of the Earth, my Lady."

The charm was hidden in her shirt; Marinette couldn't bring herself to take it off. There might have been a time when she would have spurned a gift from that annoying cat but she had grown fond of him, viewed him to be a friend even. Most of the time his flirting was obnoxious and got in the way of their fighting, but feeling the charm resting against her skin, warmed by her body heat, made her smile. It gave her a feeling of security; reminded her that Chat was there for her, even through the worst of times.

She started sketching some designs in her book, inspired by her new lucky charm. A black gown, sleek and elegant, one strap curved around the shoulder and curling around the back; a slit starting at the waist and swooping to one side, beneath the black fabric was a back to red gradient with small black polka dots emerging as the fabric continued down. She was so caught up in her drawing his didn't realize there was someone watching her draw. So when she glanced up, blue eyes meeting green she jumped a small screech leaving her throat.

"Ah… sorry, Marinette… I should have said something. I did not mean to startle you," Adrien apologized. Marinette felt her face flush red as she lost her voice and merely nodded.

"It's a very nice design. Something familiar about it," Adrien smiled as he assessed her work. Alya nudged her.

"Th-th-thank you!" Marinette managed. Adrien nodded then turned around as their professor entered the classroom. Marinette spent the rest of the class in a haze, excited about how Adrien had complemented her work. She'd have to thank Chat Noir for it in part; if not for his gift she may have not designed the dress the Adrien had complimented. She sent silent thanks into the cosmos for her friend and wished him luck.

Adrien sat with Nino at lunch still thinking about Ladybug and his encounter and her reaction to the present he'd given here. A contented sigh escaped his lips as he thought of her, the way she'd looked at him. Usually, there was annoyance even behind her smile, but last night was new for him. He almost wished he'd engraved it with his Love rather than Luck. He picked at his salad and smiled again. Perhaps he was making progress with Ladybug after all.

"Adrien!" Nino broke him out of his thoughts. Adrien started, jostling out of his daydreams to talk to Nino.

"Yes?" he questioned.

"You look like the cat who swallowed the canary. What's up?" Nino asked. Adrien gave a lazy smile at the comparison.

"Nothing much," He hummed and poked at his food. Nino raised an eyebrow as Adrien stared off into the distance, thinking about Ladybug.

"Are you in love?" Nino gasped.

"If only my Lady loved me in return." He purred as he leaned against his hand. "For her I would promise the stars, the heavens, the moon." He murmured. Nino blinked at this change in his friend.

"Is that so?" he frowned. Adrien started coming back to reality. For a moment he had let his inner persona run away, Chat had started to leak out. He quickly slipped back into the role of Adrien, perfect son and esteemed model.

"Pardon me, I was not myself." He looked at the time. "Till later; I have a photo-shoot to attend to." He spoke calmly and kindly as he left Nino. Nino frowned, he half wished he hadn't teased his friend; it seemed he was showing a more passionate side to himself and once he had been caught he became the person his father had molded him into. He half wondered if Adrien was ever true to himself and what Adrien was like under all of his stiff gestures.

The only time he'd seen Adrien truly loosen up was while playing video games with him. The game had brought out a more animate side to him and he was laughing and speaking like a normal person, promising Nino that he would live just long enough to regret challenging him in Smash Bros. Then his father called and it was like the person he had been hanging with had disappeared, his façade slammed down and a new person spoke on the phone. Professional, controlled, polite, and yet cold; the fake Adrien the world had come to know.

Nino sighed; he'd like to have a few words with Adrien's father but last time it had not ended well. Nino shivered. It was nice to see Adrien being true to himself if only for a few minutes; he wondered who the lucky girl was. Adrien so rarely came to him with matters of the heart, but the passion with which he spoke; whoever she was must be really special he decided. Adrien had been acting weird since morning, since he spoke with Marinette. He laughed. If it was true that he loved Marinette, she would probably die of happiness. He watched Adrien pull his bag over his shoulder and exit the lunchroom. Whatever the case may be, he hoped Adrien would be happy.

 _It was his fault. Ladybug lay on the ground breathing heavily, her right arm and left leg were set at odd angles. It was his fault. The charm he'd gifted her lay against her chest; he'd given her his luck, his bad luck. He felt his heart in his throat and wiped tears out of his eyes._

" _You're going to be ok, My Lady." He promised. Ladybug looked at him, pain scrunching her beautiful face into a grimace._

" _Chat? Why?" She groaned. Blood trickled from her mouth, "Why?" she moaned again before she grew still._

" _Lady? My Lady? Ladybug?" Adrien cried. "Ladybug!"_

Adrien sat up in bed sweating and panting; he shivered. Outside a flash of light illuminated the sky and thunder rumbled. He rolled out of bed, upsetting Plagg who had been sleeping curled up by his feet. Plagg groaned out a sleepy retort, something about cheese probably. Adrien made his way to the balcony resting his head against the cool glass. He wiped his eyes, his face wet.

"It was only a dream," he told himself. A loud crack above his head woke Plagg up, who flew quickly to Adrien's side and buried himself into his pajama pocket. Adrien knew that fear, he was caught out in the rain once as Chat Noir, the cat's strength and dexterity gifted to him by the miraculous stone also served to give him a cat's weaknesses. Thankfully such things didn't bother him while he was un-transformed. He usually enjoyed the rain; he wished Chat Noir were able to enjoy it. As Chat he became very ill when caught in the rain and semi-frightened by the thunder and lightning. Ladybug had been less than amused when he jumped clinging to her and hissing at the sky.

He groaned in embarrassment, but in retrospect it had been funny. The memory started to chase away the bad dream, but the fear in his heart lingered. He had to protect his Lady, no matter the cost. He'd weather a thousand rainstorms for her. Plagg trembled in his pocket and Adrien put a comforting hand over him. He couldn't fully imagine the Kwami's fear. He knew Plagg only shared a portion of the fear Adrien had experienced. His humanity is what staved off the trembling and as soon as he un-transformed he was able to calm himself down. Plagg didn't have that luxury.

Adrien pulled a blanket from the bed and wrapped it around himself and Plagg, hoping the fabric would help to deafen the storm. He then piled himself into the corner of the sofa, bringing his knees into the blanket as he sat. Plagg's trembling soon stopped and his snores were soon heard over the thunder. Adrien smiled and looked out of the window.

He couldn't bring himself to go back to sleep after the dream. As much as he realized that it was only a dream, he feared that if he went back to sleep he would see Ladybug broken, bleeding and calling his name. He shivered slightly and turned his mind to the storm leaning his head on the back of the couch as he watched. Little did he know it would be the last time he'd enjoy the rain, the last time he could be so calm during a storm.

The clouds had cleared by morning, something Marinette was glad for; Chat became fairly useless during fights when it rained. Thunder and lightning alone he seemed to be able to handle, and rain alone bothered him, but he kept a straight face. However, thunder, lightning, and rain was a deadly combination. Marinette shook her head. Not deadly, but she wouldn't soon forget the last time a bad thunderstorm had come through town. Chat had clung to her, scaring her, and hissing at the sky before he hid behind her shoulder and looked to the sky with fearful eyes. She sighed frowning. He hadn't been such a scared-y cat when they fought Stormy Weather, but it seemed the longer time went on the more cat-like Chat seemed to become.

"What's wrong, Marinette?" Tikki asked. "You've been brushing the same part of hair for the last five minutes." Marinette started then laughed.

"I… I was just thinking about Chat; I'm glad the storm is cleared." She smiled as she started wrapping her hair into pig tails with her favorite ribbons. "I think he takes the cat thing a little to serious sometimes, he wasn't acting so scared of rain when we met." She laughed.

"Well, he is a Cat after all," Tikki joked.

"I wonder if he purrs?" Marinette smiled, "I'll have to try and pet him sometime to find out." She pulled on her jacket just as her phone beeped; Alya was waiting for her downstairs. Marinette grabbed her bag and ran downstairs to greet her.

"Good morning, Marinette!" Alya smiled and waved. There was a pastry in her hand, no doubt given to her by Marinette's parents.

"Good morning, Alya." Marinette returned linking her arms with Alya as they exited the sweets shop and headed to school.

As they walked up the steps to the school Marinette hid behind Alya, Adrien was talking with Nino near the doors. He was laughing at something Nino said, a soft wonderful laugh. She blushed thinking about that laugh. They made it into the school and the classroom, Adrien and Nino not far behind. Marinette watched him as he joked and laughed; then Nino said something that shattered her heart.

"So, you never did answer my question. Who is the Lucky girl who has captured your heart?"

"Keep it down." Adrien hissed. "I don't want the whole world to know. Plus she's out of my league, the whole of Paris is in love with her and she won't give me the time of day," Adrien whispered, then sighed. Nino patted him on the back.

"That's rough buddy," he comforted. "Maybe one day she will see what she's missing out on."

"Yeah… one day." Adrien smiled, "I do think she's warming up to me, Nino. I gave her a gift and she said it was beautiful. It was custom made too. I hope she's still wearing it." He smiled to himself, lost in his thoughts. Marinette hadn't wanted to hear anymore but Adrien was sitting right in front of her. Her cheeks burned with… embarrassment? Anger? Jealousy? Just when she thought Adrien might pay attention to her, the rug was pulled out from under her.

She swallowed hard; it was her own fault after all for being such a klutz, avoiding him, and turning into a stammering mess whenever she was within two feet of his green eyes. She swallowed hard again; Alya gave her a sympathetic look and rested her hand on Marinette's forearm. Marinette fought back tears, determined not to let herself cry in front of Adrien. Adrien, who was so oblivious to her love sitting right in front of her, Adrien, who was too kind to everyone, too kind to even keep Chloe from hanging all over him when everyone knew he was uncomfortable with it, too kind to even give her criticism when their student film was spiraling out of hand. Marinette sucked down her emotions for the rest of the class determined not to let her them show. Not yet.

Chat was the one left waiting on the roof when Ladybug eventually showed up.

"Ah, my Lady, you didn't fight an Akuma without me did you?" he gave her a sly grin, Ladybug didn't respond.

"R-really? You fought an Akuma without me!?" Chat jumped to his feet, "Were you hurt?" He moved to see if she was ok.

"No…" Ladybug shook her head softly trying to fight back tears, "I was just running late, I'm sorry to have worried you." She sniffed.

"My Lady?" Chat sensed something was wrong.

"Do you really love me Chat? Or is this all some game to you?" She cried out suddenly. Chat was caught of guard.

"My Lady? I… I love you and only you." He announced. "Truly, I have eyes for no one else."

"And is it hard?" She asked, trying to rub away tears. "Is it hard for you knowing… knowing I don't return your feelings." Chat stepped back as if wounded.

"My Lady… it wouldn't be Love if it was easy." He stayed put not embracing her, he didn't wish to harm her or giver her the wrong idea. "Perhaps one day you'll love me and perhaps you won't. It doesn't change my feelings for you. It's bitter yes, but we still have a strong friendship, partnership, no?" He gave her a small smile. Ladybug broke down, hugging Chat and crying.

"Why does this hurt so much?" She cried, "I love him yet he barely notices me, it's pointless. But I still love him, and it hurts, and I still love him, but he loves someone else Chat… he doesn't even notice me." She cried.

Chat blinked he had never expected Ladybug to reveal such inner feelings like this, nor actually come to him with her troubles. Part of his heart ached knowing that she was in love with someone else, but it was his duty here and now to comfort her. He hugged her back memorizing her scent; he rubbed small circles along her back as she sobbed. He didn't speak, this was Ladybug's time to cry. Even if she was crying over another man, she trusted him enough to reveal her feelings to him and he wasn't going to ruin their friendship with his jealousy.

Slowly, Ladybug stopped crying, shutting her eyes tight but still holding onto Chat. She leaned against him. At some point they had sunk to the ground, his arms around hers; warm and protective. She shuddered out a small cry. She wondered if Chat Noir hurt this much, if she had put him through the pain she had just experienced by confirming that her heart belong to another. But Chat was quiet, peaceful, and kind.

"If he doesn't see the beauty in front of him, than he doesn't deserve it," he said, then he gave her a small grin. "He must be an idiot." He teased. Ladybug made a noise between a laugh and a sob; Chat hugged her a bit tighter.

"I'm always here for you, my Lady. I won't be going anywhere."

After the emotional night with Chat Noir and running into an Akuma during patrol, Marinette was tired. Just tired. It was as if all the strength had been seeped out of her, leaving her emotionless and worn out. There was no more strength left to cry over Adrien, no more strength left to worry about school. She was too tired for any of that. She sluggishly pulled on her pajamas and collapsed into bed, her hand went to the charm around her neck she smiled as she held it. Chat's gift comforted her as she rubbed her fingers over the engraving on the back. She fell asleep holding the charm in her hands.

The next morning Marinette resolved not to loose hope. According to Adrien's conversation with Nino, the boy of her dreams already had a crush. That being in the open didn't mean that Marinette still couldn't be his friend. Plus Adrien's conversation had made it seem as if the person he loved didn't quite return his feelings.

Marinette took a breath; she would not sulk over this turn of events. She would recover and if nothing else she would learn to talk to Adrien without stuttering. Newly motivated, she got dressed. Making sure Tikki was in her purse before heading out for the day, meeting Alya in front of the bakery.

"Good morning, Marinette," she greeted.

"Good morning, Alya." Marinette nodded with determination. Alya paused for a moment before smiling.

"I'm glad you've got fire in your belly… after yesterday I thought I was going to have to drag you out of bed." Alya teased. Marinette flushed.

"Well… it wouldn't be love if it was easy!" Marinette parroted the words from her partner. "I'm not going to stop my life because love got a bit complicated," she announced as they walked, earning a confused look from a fellow pedestrian.

"Good for you, Marinette!" Alya smiled.

Marinette's confidence was put to the test when she saw Adrien at the foot of the steps talking to Nino. As much as she wanted to hide behind Alya, she remained strong. Adrien then looked up at Marinette and Alya, waving causing Marinette to pause and give a half wave back.

"Good morning, Alya, Marinette," Nino said.

"Good morning," Adrien acknowledged.

"Good morning, Nino and Adrien," Alya responded without hesitation.

"G-g-good M-morning." Marinette managed. Adrien frowned internally, shrugged and went back to his conversation with Nino.

Marinette made it to the school before blushing and crying out in Alya's arms.

"I don't think I can keep this up."

"Where is all the confidence you had this morning? You can do this!" Alya assured. Marinette sighed.

"Maybe." She bit her lip and they found their classroom, pulling out the previous day's assignment. Marinette panicked when she realized she hadn't finished it and was hurrying to answer the last few questions before the bell rang. The warning bell sounded as she was stuck on the last question. Adrien and Nino finally arrived; Marinette's face was scrunched up in concentration.

"Carry the one."

"Ah… thank you… A-A-Adrien!" Marinette blushed and quickly wrote down the answer before Madame DuPris entered the room.

"No problem." Adrien smiled before turning around as Chloe pouted across the room. As they went to hand in their assignments Chloe complained to Madame DuPris.

"Miss, Marinette cheated, she got the answers from another student," Chloe accused. Marinette froze. Madame DuPris looked up and sighed.

"From who did she get the answers Chloe?" Madame DuPris asked. Chloe smirked.

"From Al-" Chloe started.

"From me," Adrien interrupted. "But Madame, I merely gave her advice, Marinette achieved the answers on her own. She merely forgot to carry a one, the rest of the problem was easily solved after I helped her realize the mix up," Adrien stated smoothly. Chloe frowned.

"I'd prefer it if such accusations were not made so frivolously in my class Chloe. Please return to your seat. Thank you for your honesty, Adrien." Madame DuPris dismissed them. Marinette shook her head. Adrien had defended her! Usually he barely noticed her but he had defended her at the risk of getting in trouble himself. Marinette blushed as she thought of a fantasy in which Adrien had saved her from a wicked witch but banished the thought. She wanted to thank him, but wasn't sure how. She pulled out a post-it note; ironically, they were shaped like Ladybugs and scrawled a thank you-careful to put her signature at the bottom-before passing it to Alya who in turn passed it to Nino who passed it to Adrien while Madame DuPris had her back turned. Marinette watched him read it. It was hard to gauge his expression from the back of the head but he quickly hid the note as Madame DuPris turned around again.

Marinette hid her face in her book for the rest of the class period. She heard Adrien stand up to leave as the bell rang and blushed harder. Then her note slipped under the book she had been hiding behind.

 _No problem – Adrien_

Marinette smiled and peeked over her book catching his eye as he left the room, he gave her a small wave before heading to the next class. Marinette held the note, deciding that it was precious to her she smiled as she looked over the handwriting and his little signature, elegant and what she had expected of a model. She giggled, a small bubble of happiness had emerged.

"Way to go." Alya smiled. Marinette packed her books and headed to the next class the note still in her hand.

As the time came for lunch Marinette was still glowing over her stroke of good luck with Adrien. Besides the fact that he had come to her rescue and helped her with her homework; she'd managed to obtain his signature. He was against signing things at school; he rarely put his signature on anything and yet he had signed the bottom of the note.

Marinette was still on cloud 9 when as she was turning away from her locker, Chloe pulled the note out of her hand. She looked at the note with disdain, near growling as she glared at Adrien's signature, threw her head back and laughed.

"Is this what you're so happy about Marinette? Ha! You foolish fool; you're so boring and plain and dull. Adrien probably took pity on you because he has a good soul." Chloe laughed again.

"Unlike you, Chloe." Alya rolled her eyes. "You're just upset because Adrien helped Marinette and not you."

"As if. The only thing Adrien will be helping me with is when he carries me through the threshold on our wedding day. " Chloe turned on her heel and walked away. Marinette was shaking with anger and it took her a while to realize Chloe had taken the note with Adrien's signature with her.

"That pest. She took my signature." Marinette growled to herself. After the good luck of even getting Adrien's signature Chloe had come and snatched it from her. Marinette made her way to lunch mumbling about Chloe and her huge ego. Alya rolled her eyes but listened attentively to her friend's troubles. Marinette noticed Adrien leave at lunch, Nino waving after the car as it pulled away leaving him on the sidewalk.

"Nino!" Alya waved him over.

"Alya, Marinette; you guys headed somewhere for lunch?" He asked has he walked up to them.

"Just to Marinette's, where is Adrien off to?" Alya asked.

"Dunno. We had planned to eat together, but his father requested that Adrien join him for lunch. Adrien doesn't get to see his father much so I hope it goes well." Nino smiled with crossed fingers. Marinette gave a nod.

"We should all go out for lunch together sometime; that is if you boys think you can handle us." Alya said. Marinette blushed and Nino laughed.

"I'm sure we could manage. I'll ask Adrien later." Nino waved as he headed down the street. Alya nodded then nudged Marinette.

"You better thank your friend for getting you another chance with Adrien after you blew the movie last time." Alya teased.

"That's not fair! There was an Akuma attack and I was stuck on the other side of town!" Marinette pouted. Alya laughed.

"I know, I'm still peeved I missed it, it would have been nice to get some footage for my blog. Anyway Adrien missed the movie too, so it was just Nino and me." Alya shrugged.

"You never told me Adrien missed the movie." Marinette frowned. "You let me believe that he was there the entire time and you guys waited for me." She shoved Alya lightly. Alya laughed and shrugged.

"I guess I forgot, Nino said Adrien texted him to let him know he was stuck in traffic." Alya explained.

"Well… at least I can rest easy knowing I didn't stand him up." Marinette sighed.

"You stood me up." Alya joked.

"You're not Adrien though!" Marinette teased. Alya laughed.

"You are hopeless you know that."

"I know." Marinette sighed deflating and entered the bakery, "Mama, we're here." Marionette smiled, Sabine nodded and waved but was busy helping a customer so Marinette led them upstairs to the kitchen and began making sandwiches.

"So how is it going on the Adrien front?" Alya asked as she snacked on a cookie.

"Ugh, I'm just so useless, my mouth stops working and just can't speak and then he looks at me really kindly but I can tell he thinks I have a mental disorder or something." Marinette sighed. Alya looked at her sympathetically.

"I'm sure he doesn't think that." Alya comforted.

"Even if he doesn't, it's hopeless." Marinette sighed as she finished one sandwich and moved onto the next.

"You never know until you try and talk to him, but you actually have to talk to him… maybe you could use your powers as class president to your advantage." Alya conspired. Marinette paused.

"How do you mean?" She asked.

"I don't know; ask him for help on a big project, but tell him it's very important for the student body." Alya suggested.

"I don't know… that would have to involve a big project to begin with." Marinette frowned. "I do suppose I have to work on making cushions now that I've gotten the teachers to allow headphones in the library. But how would I get Adrien involved with that?" Marinette frowned.

"Maybe you should ask for his expertise in the design field." Alya grabbed a sandwich as Marinette put the final touches on her own.

"I don't know." Marinette began eating her sandwich and thinking, "I guess I could call for volunteers and hope he wants to help. But he's usually busy." Marinette groaned, "If I could just talk to him without all of the panic and word vomit."

"You'll get there some day." Alya assured.

Across Paris Adrien was having his own complicated lunch discussions.

"I appreciate your concerns, Adrien but you are to attend the photo-shoot, whether you like it or not. This is a very high profile client of yours, you are not allowed to miss for something as frivolous as a school event." Gabriel ordered.

"Yes, father." Adrien dropped. Pushing his food around on his plate.

"Posture." Gabriel reminded. Adrien sat up straight and returned to proper manners; but his face still revealed his disappointment. Gabriel sighed surveying his son.

"You have an image to uphold, you can't have a normal life. You weren't born for that, you were born for greater things." Gabriel gave his son the smallest of smiles, Adrien looked away; Gabriel returned to his stern expression, "You have to trust me."

"I do trust you, father, I was just looking forward to the event is all. There will be other opportunities to attend school events, I am sure; my apologies for not seeing this earlier." Adrien schooled his expression into a neutral one and withheld his emotions.

"Very good, I've enjoyed our time together, son. I will see you when you return home." Gabriel ended the conversation and waving Adrien off. Adrien nodded before excusing himself and leaving the restaurant.

"That would require you actually being home." Adrien muttered as the car pulled up in front of him. He climbed in, resisting the urge to slam the car door. Plagg poked his head out from Adrien's jacket.

"That went well." He sighed. Adrien rolled his eyes.

"It was my fault for hoping, for asking. I deserved what I got." Adrien stared out the window, his heart aching at the curt dismissal. They had been having a decent lunch before Adrien had brought up the Talent Show and his desire to participate in it. He should have known better than to hope to live his life like a normal person. He envied Nino and his ability to attend school normally without being pulled away and pestered by photographers, make-up artists, hairstylists, and paparazzi.

"Your dad has issues." Plagg scoffed. "On the bright side they had some nice cheese at the restaurant, no?" Adrien rolled his eyes at the question as they pulled up to the school. Plagg dived into Adrien's bag as he headed to class.

Chloe was mysteriously absent class began; Adrien cast a worried glance over to Sabrina. Sabrina shrugged and shook her head before typing frantically into her phone. Adrien frowned; Chloe had been known to leave in the middle of school before for various reasons, such as hair appointments, manicures, pedicures, and other various beauty treatments. Yet it wasn't like her not to tell Sabrina; Sabrina was the keeper of her schedule. Adrien glanced around the room before slipping his phone out of his pocket and texting a quick message to Sabrina.

 _Where is Chloe? What happened?_

He glanced back up before additionally sending a message to Chloe.

 _Where are you? Are you ok?_

He waited for a few moments before his phone vibrated alerting him to Sabrina's response.

 _She was feeling upset over your actions toward Marinette and decided she wanted to eat lunch alone. She called for the car and left. I thought she would be back by now._

Adrien frowned, why would Chloe be upset over Marinette? He'd only done what was right. He knew Chloe and Marinette didn't get along but didn't know anything beyond that. Adrien frowned then texted Sabrina back.

 _How upset was she?_

Nino nudged him and Adrien quickly hid his phone and pretended to be taking notes, Sabrina texted him back, but Adrien waited a few minutes until the coast was clear to check his phone.

 _Pretty upset, mostly over the fact you two were passing notes to each other._

Adrien rolled his eyes. Trust Chloe to blow things out of proportion or misinterpret simple things. He sighed remembering the time that she got mad and plotted revenge against his stylist who was returning an article of clothing he forgot at a shoot. Chloe had gotten so angry and questioned the poor girl for half an hour before the stylist had burst into tears and ran. Chloe could be so overprotective sometimes; usually it was tolerable. This time Adrien feared that an Akuma might possess her if she got too emotional. He glanced down at his phone and sent her another message.

 _Worried about you, please text me back._ He stashed his phone away and stared at the board. He had never expected part of his job as Chat Noir to result in sitting nervously in class and hoping his childhood friend didn't get possessed. He tapped his pencil on his desk nervously until Nino told him to "Stop it or you'll loose a hand."

The bell rang and he swiveled around standing up abruptly and grabbing Marinette's wrist. She yelped frightening Alya and a few others.

"Marinette, what happened with Chloe?" He demanded. Marinette stammered and blushed.

"I-I-I-I…I-I-I-I-I-I…"

"You broke her." Alya frowned. "Chloe came up to us after class and started being Chloe, she took the note you guys were writing on and sauntered away, but not before insulting Marinette. Like I said, she was being Chloe." Alya supplied. Adrien frowned and let go of Marinette's wrist and she made a small noise.

"I have to find her." Adrien grabbed his bag and started out of the door. Alya scoffed but Adrien didn't care. The last thing he wanted was a potential fight with Chloe, especially when Marinette was in her crosshairs. Adrien slid to a stop.

"Marinette!" He cried, he did an about face and ran back to the classroom, Marinette was squealing in Alya's arms.

"Marinette!" He called. She jumped.

"Aah? A-Adrien?" She squeaked out.

"I need you." Adrien panted before grabbing her wrist and pulling her along with him.

"Wh-whaaaaat?" she cried.

Adrien paused, her reaction had made him self conscious. He had reacted without thinking. How was he going to explain this to Marinette, let alone Alya or Nino? His father? Nathalie? He had acted on emotion alone, and allowed himself to freak out. Alya was giving him a funny look and it appeared that Marinette's soul and left her body.

He dropped her wrist. How did he get out of this? What would he say? He had to make sure Marinette was safe in case Chloe did get possessed but the real challenge was making sure Chloe wasn't possessed. There was no way he could confirm that Chloe was or wasn't possessed. There was no reason to get so worked up. He took a breath and composed himself.

"I'm sorry for that outburst." He apologized to both Marinette and Alya then he turned toward the door where… Sabrina was recording? He mentally smacked himself before striding over.

"How long where you there?" He asked. Sabrina fumbled for an answer, "I hope you understand but if that video gets out it could put my father in an awkward position. Might I ask you to delete it?" He gave her his signature smile, polite, reserved, perfect.

"Yes… but… um… I already sent it to Chloe." Sabrina hid behind the phone.

"I understand. Please delete it from you phone nonetheless." He patted her on the shoulder and made to leave.

"Wait!" Alya marched up to him, "You can't just come in here and start spouting stuff like 'I need you' and then just leave Marinette like that!" She poked him in the chest.

"You're right. I'm sorry Alya; that was insensitive of me. Marinette will you accompany me to the library for our free period." He held his hand out to her, though she had sunk to the floor and was muttering into her purse. It was killing him not to act like Chat Noir, it was killing him to be sweet polite Adrien. He might have been able to regain his wits when he wasn't sure Chloe would throw a fit, but knowing Chloe's long term goal of marriage to him, it worried him what the video Sabrina took might do. It might put her overboard. Staying composed was difficult. Eventually he was able to pull Marinette to her feet. He pulled her along to the library and slowed trying to find a place that was easily defendable, someplace he could transform if the need arose. He decided on a table by the back doors near a closet. He couldn't see very well due to the racks of books but he decided to make it his base.

Marinette was still bright red, it seemed she was trying not to run from him, he pulled a chair out for her to sit on and she hesitated before taking a seat. He sighed before taking a seat next to her.

"I'm sorry this all seems… sudden. I don't mean to give you the wrong idea." He looked into Marinette's blue eyes and felt a sudden tug of trust. It was enough to prompt him to explain his unusual actions to her.

"Marinette… I think Chloe might be possessed by one of the Akuma creatures. I have no proof, but I know that they take advantage of negative emotions." He whispered quickly, "I think you might be in danger. Chloe hasn't answered my texts, she always answers. I think… I think that my actions this morning in your defense; however innocent they were on my part made her angry. I… I can't explain it, I just… I need to make sure she's ok, and I need to keep you safe and I don't know which one I should do first." He ran a hand through his hair ruffling it. Marinette was quiet for a moment and Adrien thought that she was going to call him delusional.

"If that's true… then… then we need to find Chloe." Marinette whispered back, she seemed composed, and fierce, "You may not know this, but Chloe keeps going on about how you are _hers_. I suppose if she viewed me as enough of a threat that would be enough for her to become possessed."

"Exactly. I wasn't so sure before… I freaked out and I apologize for scaring you, but I guess I get nervous. I just reacted, I needed to make sure you were safe and that came out as 'I need you' and then Sabrina… I fear if she wasn't possessed before… she definitely is now…" a large crash that school the school and caused Marinette to fall into his arms, "That might be her." He frowned.

"We need to get Ladybug and Chat Noir." She said. Adrien shook his head.

"You hide, " he pulled her into the closet blocking the door with his body, "I'll make sure you're safe… Marinette… Thanks for trusting me." He smiled before he shut the door on her. He slipped behind a bookcase before transforming and running out of the library to find screaming students fleeing the scene. A bride came sauntering down the hallway, her face was covered but he knew it was Chloe.

" _ **ADRIEN!"**_ The shriek pierced his ears and he ran toward the Akuma, " _ **COME TO ME, ADRIEN!"**_ she yelled again.

"Here comes the bride!" Chat stretched with a smirk, "I don't think white is your color, Chloe."

" _ **IT'S BRIDEZILLA!"**_ She screeched. Chat rolled his eyes.

"How unoriginal." A voice joined in from the side.

"Ah, my Lady, how did you know we had a runaway bride?" Chat purred, confidence growing in her presence.

"I can't give away all my secrets." She smiled before swinging her Yo-yo in preparation to fight, her eyes narrowing.

"Ah, I suppose I too must be ready to _commit_ to this fight." He smirked. Bridezilla let out a screech, it wasn't so much a screech as it was weaponized sound; it sent both him and Ladybug into the wall. Chat groaned, his ears ringing, Ladybug was already on her feet.

" _ **I'LL DESTROY ANYONE WHO GETS IN THE WAY OF MY ADRIEN**_!" Bridezilla announced, her next scream sent Chat and Ladybug through the wall and out of the school. Chat held his ribs; he was sure they were bruised, if not broken. Ladybug pulled him out of the way of another sonic blast.

"Well, her voice does have a distinct _ring_ to it." He joked, Ladybug rolled her eyes.

"Are you ok?" She asked. Chat laughed.

"I'll manage. You have an idea?" He swallowed his pain and got ready to fight as Bridezilla emerged from the hole.

"Destroy the gown, I think the Akuma is in it." Ladybug's eyes narrowed. Chat nodded and cracked his neck.

"Bridezilla! Its time to fast-forward to the reception! CATACLYSM!" He harnessed Plagg's destructive power in his fist before rushing toward her, dodging sonic attacks. He went to grab the dress except… when it crumbled no black butterfly emerged. Bridezilla was now standing in the dress's top and some white leggings. A reverse colored ladybug was tucked into the band of the leggings; there was white writing on it. Chat groaned recognizing the note he'd passed to Marinette.

" _ **NOW YOU'VE RUINED MY WEDDING DRESS!"**_ She grew angrier. The next sonic attack sent Chat flying backward. He hit the pavement with a thud and heard something crack. He groaned, slightly dazed from the impact and tried to pull himself up when he heard the first beep.

"Not now." He managed to get himself upright but still felt a sharp pain in his side making it hard to breathe.

"LADYBUG!" He called. Ladybug was holding her own against the angry bride. Chat grabbed his staff and extended it against the ground sending him shooting into the sky. He partially retracted it and tried for an aerial attack against Bridezilla. She shot a sonic blast at him that sent him into the side of the building. He hissed in pain but returned to the fight staff in hand. Ladybug had managed to wrap her Yo-yo around Bridezilla's arm and was reaching for her veil. She seemed to believe that the Akuma was part of the dress. Chat didn't get a chance to correct her before Bridezilla reacted.

" _ **NO ONE SEE THE BRIDE BEFORE THE CEREMONY! BAD LUCK ON ALL OF YOU!"**_ Bridezilla yelled. Ladybug went flying sideways. Chat managed to shove his staff into the ground and stayed put by clinging to it. His ring beeped again and another toe vanished of the paw print.

"Ladybug?" Chat called keeping his eye on his opponent.

"I'm alright." She called swinging her Yo-Yo around faster and faster.

"Use Lucky Charm! I have 3 minutes left!" He warned. Ladybug nodded but a sonic blast knocked them both back again.

"Keep her busy!" Ladybug groaned holding her stomach. Chat nodded and rushed forward dodging sonic blasts. He broke his staff in half and sent one end flying at Bridezilla's face, she blocked the attack but he had thrown the other at her stomach making her double over. He smirked in satisfaction before he kicked her sideways, his ring beeped out a two-minute warning. Her veil went flying off and he hesitated as he saw Chloe's tear streaked face. Her make-up was more dramatic and her skin had turned a lavender shade, but it was still Chloe. She grew livid and in Chat's moment of hesitation she sent him flying backward. Ladybug threw her charm skyward and shouted, "Lucky Charm." Chat smiled considering it a job well done. He flipped over mid-air, landed on his feet and skidded to a stop next to Ladybug.

"Is that… a blindfold?" Chat wondered.

"Just keep her occupied, silly kitty." Ladybug snapped as she searched for a way to make a blindfold work. More sonic attacks headed their way, Chat's ring beeped the final toe disappearing leaving only one minute left till he transformed back into Adrien. Chat nodded rushing toward the bride, she took a deep breath and braced herself. Chat didn't have time to react.

" _ **ADRIEN IS MINE!"**_ she yelled, the street itself was torn up as both Chat, Ladybug, and a good 7-8 foot area was thrown across the street. Chat was dazed, he heard a beeping noise somewhere to his right and a groan.

"Cheese." He opened his eyes. His transformation had worn off. There was a second beep coming from in front of him. Ladybug was pulling herself out of the wreckage blindfold still in hand, her leg was hanging at an strange angle as she struggled forward on her elbows. Adrien's throat closed as he fought back tears, both from seeing his Lady broken and bleeding without being able to help her and his own wounds. Adrien felt his pockets.

"Cheese… I don't have any cheese… it's in my bag." Adrien sobbed. Bridezilla grabbed Ladybug and pulled her out away from the rubble. Adrien grabbed Plagg as they hid behind a destroyed shop front.

"Please Plagg, lend me your power, there has to be some other way for you to recharge." Adrien begged. Plagg was quiet.

" _ **YOU'RE NOTHING SPECIAL YOU FOOLISH FOOL… ONCE I TAKE YOUR MIRACULOUS I THINK I'LL KILL YOU FOR STANDING IN MY WAY**_." Bridezilla laughed. Ladybug shoved her off but fell on the ground awkwardly and cried out.

"Plagg?" Adrien looked at the Kwami.

"There…. There is something…" He looked toward Ladybug, "But I promised Tikki I'd never do it again."

"Plagg, Ladybug is going to die, she's going to… please, Plagg." Adrien begged.

"I… it comes with a high price." Plagg admitted. Ladybug was doing everything she could to keep Bridezilla off of her and away from her.

"I don't care, I'll pay it. I'll pay anything." Adrien agreed. Plagg nodded.

"You won't be fully human from here on out." Plagg warned. "There's no going back, you will have to fulfill the role of Chat Noir… until you die." Plagg was somber, no jokes, no sassy comments, serious and somber. Adrien understood the 5000+ years the Kwami lived in that expression. He'd made this deal before, and it hadn't ended well.

"Deal." Adrien said, "What do I do?"

"Take your ring off." Plagg instructed. "Hold it out in front of you and pledge your life to its service." Adrien pulled the ring off quickly, Ladybug called out in pain, but he didn't have time to look toward her, not if he wanted to save her life. He held the ring before him hand shaking and heart being in his throat.

"I, Adrien Agreste, pledge my life, my heart, and my soul to you. I vow to take up the mantle of Chat Noir and the duties that come with it; so long as I shall live." He stated. The ring began to glow, then it vanished, Adrien felt a sharp pain over his left breast, it felt like his heart was on fire.

"You pledged your heart." Plagg nodded, "do it, transform."

"Transform! Chat Noir!" Adrien cried. In a flash of green he was back in commission. He jumped out from his hiding place. Ladybug was trapped under Bridezilla and crying. Bridezilla was reaching for her earrings with a wicked grin. Chat kicked her off and Ladybug sobbed.

"I've got your back my Lady. I promised you, I'd always be here for you." He gave her a quick smirk before turning his attention back to Bridezilla. He ran toward her, he suddenly found himself inches from her face, she gasped, he changed course, he was behind her, and he grabbed the ladybug from the legging's band. It was definitely his note to Marinette. He felt some small satisfaction knowing she was safe. He ripped the note in half, the black butterfly flew free.

"CATACLYSM!" He snatched the butterfly out of the air, it struggled and crumbled to dust in his hand. Bridezilla shrieked and passed out; as the darkness left her Chloe was revealed. He turned back to his Lady.

"Ladybug…" her earrings beeped, she had two spots left, she groaned but propped herself up on her elbows and threw the blindfold she never got to use into the air.

"Miraculous Cure!" She invoked. A swarm of ladybugs emerged fixing the school, the road, and thankfully Ladybug's leg. Chat additionally felt the magical cure fix his broken ribs and realized how easy it was to breath. Not thinking about the consequences of doing so, he pulled Ladybug into his arms.

"I thought… I thought you were going to die." He sobbed. She hugged him back.

"But I didn't thanks to you." She was sniffling.

"I destroyed the Akuma." He told her, she nodded next to him, "I didn't mean to, I know you were supposed to purify it, but you were hurt."

"I know." She squeezed him hard and then both parties drew away. Her earring beeped, one spot left, "I have to go, meet me tonight." She then swung away. Chat sighed, helping Chloe to her feet as she looked around dazed.

"I should be going too." He smiled then he grabbed his staff and shot into the sky escaping over the roof tops.


	2. The Fluff

Chat landed gracefully behind the school, the small alleyway was deserted, he paused for a moment, and prepared to release his transformation when he noticed the black ring was no longer on his hand.

"What!" He brought his hand closer to his eyes as if that would somehow make the ring reappear. He frowned and realized that the absence of a ring was not the only change that had been made to his suit. Over his left breast the iconic green paw-print rested, it glowed brightly. Chat hesitantly touched the paw-print; the glow seemed to be coming through the fabric of the suit or maybe suit itself. He struggled to figure out what it could mean if only flesh was beneath the fabric. He didn't have long to consider it however before an announcement informed the students that the danger had passed and Ladybug and Chat Noir had once again saved the day.

Adrien released his transformation and Plagg span out of the glowing paw-print on his chest. Adrien cupped him in his hands and the Kwami groaned.

"What happened, this deal we made. I need details." Adrien whispered. Plagg pushed himself into a sitting position.

"Please… cheese first… it takes a lot of energy to make the contract, and then you used Cataclysm..." Plagg flopped back down appearing more exhausted than usual. Adrien sighed and tucked him into his coat pocket before slipping through the back doors and into the Library.

Firstly, he checked the closet where he'd left Marinette. She wasn't there, but Adrien didn't think much of it since they were given the all clear. Marinette must have realized she was no longer in danger and went to find Alya. Second, he slipped through the frantic students and teachers, who were trying to restore order, and opened his locker. He snuck a few pieces of cheese into his pocket before surveying the students.

Marinette was talking to Alya; Alya seemed to be showing Marinette pictures on her phone. Adrien assumed they were shots from the fight. He resolved himself to talking to them, if nothing else he could manage to recover face after the incident. Hopefully his father wouldn't have to hear about him shouting, "I need you" to a classmate.

"Are you ok?" He asked, "She didn't find you did she?"

"Oh, w-w-w-well n-no. I m-managed to sneak out in the c-confusion then C-Chat Noir and Ladybug showed u-u-up. Where d-did you go? Y-you're not hurt a-a-are you?" Marinette managed.

"I… I ran the wrong direction. I thought she was down the other hall and by the time I realized my mistake Chat and Ladybug had shown up."

"Look at you running around saving damsels in distress." Alya teased gesturing with her phone. Adrien smiled, but the small ladybug charm on her phone caught his eye.

"Yeah… saving…" He poked it feeling somewhat satisfied when it bobbled, he gave it a bat with his fingertip, it swung a little further.

"Um… Adrien?" Alya caught his attention. Adrien started and gave his signature grin.

"Sorry, your charm is really cool, I might have to look into getting one. I am glad you are both safe. I should go find Chloe." He gave a short wave and left them.

He found Chloe outside being dramatic in front of a camera. He rolled his eyes but headed toward her. When she saw him she fell into him sobbing. It was slightly uncomfortable the way she was hanging on him but he patted her back.

"It's alright now Chloe." She continued to sob and he turned toward the cameras. "That's enough for today. She's been through a lot." He led her into the school. "Do you need to go home Chloe?"

"No, please just hold me a bit longer. It was so terrible. I attacked Ladybug." She sobbed. Adrien allowed her to continue hugging him.

"Its ok now. Everyone is fine." Adrien wasn't sure if her distress was real or faked, he knew she had a habit of crying wolf to get her way but he wanted to give her the benefit of the doubt.

"I was going to kill her." Chloe suddenly whispered while her body shook. Adrien's breath caught in his throat and he looked down at Chloe.

"What?"

"I was… I was seriously going to kill her. I… I love Ladybug. I adore her… yet I was… I was going to kill her."

Adrien held her tighter realizing that she was definitely not faking.

"Chloe… do you want to go home? We can get dinner and talk about this later… I would take you but my father…"

"I'll have my father make him let you ditch. I… I can't believe I was going to kill her. What if she hates me? We were such good friends before this happened." Chloe snuggled up to Adrien.

"If that's what you need Chloe." Adrien agreed. Chloe nodded and he pulled out his phone calling the car, Nathalie and Nino to inform them of the plan. Nathalie informed him that his father wouldn't be pleased and Adrien let her know that the Mayor was going to speak with him on the matter.

A professor tried to usher them to class but Adrien explained in polite tones that they would be leaving shortly due to the traumatizing circumstances.

Chloe continued holding tightly to him, though she had moved to clinging onto his arm while he had made the appropriate phone calls.

His driver sent him a message that he was outside the school and Adrien led Chloe to the car following her in. Adrien stared out of the window thinking about how Chloe could have known that she had tried to kill Ladybug. He supposed she had enough time to see a video of the fight before he had found her. He always assumed that the Akuma victim never remembered the possession by default, but now he was having doubts. What if they only forgot because Ladybug cleansed the Akuma? He'd destroyed it, yes, but what if Chloe actually remembered. Bridezilla had screamed her intentions to the world, it was very likely that someone had just told her what had happened.

Chloe was quiet, staring at her hands. Adrien took one of her hands in his own.

"Listen, what happened, you couldn't help yourself. It's not your fault." Adrien comforted. Chloe shook her head.

"I… I wanted to." She looked back down at her hands, "I wanted to kill Ladybug. I remember wanting to." She shook her head again. "I was so angry."

"Chloe, that was the black butterfly." He told her.

"Adrien…" She looked him in the eye, "There was this man… this man in my head. Hawkmoth, he's the one who controls the Akuma, we have to tell Ladybug."

"She's been fighting these creatures for a year, I think she knows, but I'll ask Alya to put something up on the Ladyblog." Adrien assured. Chloe made a small scoffing noise. "What?"

"I just… Alya." Chloe rolled her eyes, Adrien gave her a small smile, at least she was being herself a bit more. He was growing worried about her. They pulled up to Chloe's house and Adrien followed her in pausing to place Plagg, who was still feeling weak, into his bag.

Marinette was able to transform back and slip through the school quietly milling about with the other students who were talking about the event.

"I think I saw Ladybug swing back toward our school after the battle."

"No way you're making that up."

"I hope school is cancelled for the rest of the day because of this."

"How do you think the Miraculous Cure works?"

"Just be grateful it does."

Alya found Marinette in the crowd and drug her over to a semi quiet spot to show her pictures she had captured or that had been sent to her through the Ladyblog.

One of the pictures showed Ladybug and Chat Noir embracing.

"So… what do you think? Did they finally get together? If they did Nino owes me 10 euro." Alya grinned.

"Don't you think that's a little hasty, I mean it looks like they could have died. Maybe they were just happy they were alive?" Marinette explained. Alya nodded.

"I personally think they were made for each other, but as a reporter it is my duty to wait for the truth." She then gave Marinette a sly grin, "That doesn't mean that I won't speculate until such a time that my suspicions are confirmed."

Marinette rolled her eyes.

"Oh wait… I almost forgot. Here." Alya swiped through her phone quickly until she came across a slightly blurred photo of Chat Noir. "Check out Chat's upgrade."

Marinette scanned the photo, she had been aware that something was different when she hugged him but she hadn't fully noticed the changes. The glowing paw-print over his left breast was the most obvious change but she noticed that the stitching had been modified, and it seemed that he had a thigh holster now. The picture was too blurry to make out too many details, she was anxious to see exactly what had changed when she saw him next. She glanced up to see Adrien making his way across the room and nearly melted when he spoke to her, asking if she was ok.

She managed to sputter out an answer and hoped it made sense, Adrien seemed satisfied by the response, Marinette took the opportunity to ask if he was ok.

"I… I ran the wrong direction. I thought she was down the other hall and by the time I realized my mistake Chat and Ladybug had shown up." Adrien shrugged, Marinette nodded as if that were a normal thing to do.

"Look at you running around saving damsels in distress." Alya teased gesturing with her phone. Adrien smiled. Marinette whimpered quietly, his smile was the best. She could stare at him for ages. Before she realized it Adrien was giving a polite wave and leaving.

"That was weird." Alya frowned.

"Hmmmmm." Marinette sighed contently. Alya shook Marinette's shoulder.

"He just went to find Chloe."

"He… oh." Marinette drooped. "I suppose they are childhood friends though."

"How anyone could be friends with that pest is beyond me."

Marinette shrugged.

"Oh… check this out." She swiped over to a video of the fight, "It looks like his suit isn't the only thing that was upgraded."

Ladybug was on the ground, the Bridezilla above her when a black blur knocked Chloe to the side, the audio was too jumbled to make out anything that was being said. The blur was revealed to be Chat, he planted himself before Ladybug defensively pausing to turn toward her, when he turned back toward the Akuma he vanished, appearing a few inches from her. It was only for a moment before he vanished again, this time appearing behind her, the video cut off and Marinette gasped. She was definitely going to have a talk with Chat later about his 'upgrades.'

"Pretty cool right?" Alya seemed pleased with herself. Marinette nodded.

"So fast." She managed, "who knew Chat had that in him." Alya laughed.

"Girls. It's time to return to class." Madame Bustier ushered them along.

Neither Chloe nor Adrien returned to class, Marinette frowned as her mind went to a dark place. She imagined Adrien kissing Chloe and apologizing, taking care of her after the attack. She shook her head trying to expel the thoughts and focus on the lesson but things like Adrien bringing Chloe to his house or holding her close like lovers kept making her want to cry. She knew it was ridiculous to imagine such things when as far as she knew Adrien had dropped her off at home or was heading to a last minute photo-shoot. Still, she was grateful when class ended and she was able to go home.

Safe in her room she let Tikki out and gave her a cookie before staring at her homework. Tikki was quiet. Marinette looked at the Kwami who had yet to touch the cookie.

"Tikki?" Marinette leaned close to her. "What's wrong?"

Tikki remained silent for a while, her little fins crossed in her lap as if she had her hands folded.

"Tikki?" Marinette prodded. Tikki shook her head.

"That stupid Cat!" Tikki suddenly snapped, tears welling up in her eyes.

"Tikki!?" Marinette scooped Tikki into her hands and gently stroked her head in comfort, "What's wrong? What did Chat do?"

"Not Chat! Plagg!" Tikki hugged one of Marinette's fingers, "I… I think he made a deal with Chat!"

"A deal? What kind of deal? Who is Plagg?" Marinette frowned. Tikki gave a small shuddering sigh.

"Plagg is Chat's Kwami. He is to Chat Noir, what I am to you. I hoped I'd never have to tell you this. The power that a Kwami can lend through our current contract is finite, as you've experienced today and when Lucky Charm drains your power. But a Kwami such as myself is able to make a deal and lend more power to the Miraculous holder."

"That's incredible. Why didn't you want to tell me before?"

"Because it comes with a terrible price. Many centuries ago I made Plagg promise never to make a deal again. In exchange for power the wielder promises their soul and their life to the Kwami, to the Miraculous, and to the duties that they must fulfill. The deal isn't so simple as just that; they give part of themselves to the Miraculous." Tikki shuddered, "It hasn't ended well in the past. Never ended well."

"How do you know Chat made the deal?" Marinette gasped.

"I don't know… Plagg promised." Tikki shook her head, "If he did... Marinette it's terrible to watch. The wielder can't ever live a normal life again, the only time they are able to be free of the Miraculous is at their death." Tikki shivered. "The last Chat Noir that made this deal…"

Tikki grew silent, somehow that was worse than knowing.

"Have… have you ever made the deal with someone?"

Tikki looked up to her and then looked away ashamed.

"Yes… twice. I did my best… but they always die young." Tikki leaned into Marinette's hand. "With Plagg… his bad luck always… always makes things worse."

"What's going to happen to Chat if he made this deal?" Marinette whispered. Tikki looked up at her.

"If he did… lets just say I hope he didn't."

Adrien was able to leave by 19:00. His father had left a message with Nathalie informing Adrien that while his actions were brash, the traction he had gotten with the Mayor was beneficial. He also informed Adrien that he would not be home and that Adrien should eat without him.

Adrien skipped dinner.

Chat flew across the rooftops hoping to _spot_ Ladybug. They were supposed to meet but when, he didn't know. He couldn't stand staying in one place for too long, it drove him mad. Eventually he tired and decided to rest on the Arc De Triomphe. Plagg had consumed an entire wheel of cheese while he was at Chloe's, following this he had promptly fallen asleep and refused to wake up until Adrien's bag was thrown against his bed knocking the Kwami from his slumber.

Chat sighed at the memory of their conversation.

" _You promised to tell me more about this deal." Adrien said as he pointed over his left breast. He had checked the area in the bathroom, a black outline of a paw-print in the same area as the green one on his suit was present. Plagg groaned but floated up to him._

" _What happened to the Miraculous? I've never been that fast in my entire life." Adrien prompted._

" _Speed, stealth, grace, destruction. All things that come with being a Cat, in this case your original abilities have been augmented through our deal; hence you are faster." Plagg avoided the question of the Miraculous instead opting to tell him more about his new powers, "Benefit don't just extend to your transformation now, a soul is a big thing to bargain, you best get your money's worth." Plagg quipped. Adrien wasn't fooled._

" _Where is the Miraculous?" He asked. Plagg sighed._

" _You are the Miraculous now… more specifically your heart is. The only way Hawkmoth can take it from you now is to kill you."_

 _They were both quiet for a bit while this information was absorbed._

" _But that also means that I won't be able to give up the Miraculous and return to a normal life." Adrien reasoned. Plagg nodded somberly, he'd seen many former Chat Noir's lose much over this deal; family, friends, and lovers. He was surprised when Adrien started laughing. Plagg was taken aback; surely the boy hadn't lost his mind so soon?_

" _That just means you'll always be with me, I'll never have to be alone… I'll never have to go back to an empty house." He started laughing again and let himself fall on his bed, "You say it like it's a bad thing Plagg." Adrien smiled, "Lighten up, being Chat Noir was the best thing that ever happened to me. This does nothing to change that." If Plagg had eyebrows they would have raised._

" _It's no use hanging around here any longer. Transform! Chat Noir!" Adrien held his former ring hand over his heart instead of his normal dramatic pose; within seconds Chat had taken to the rooftops._

Ladybug landed lightly behind him.

"My Lady." Chat stood bowing. Ladybug folded her arms giving him a disapproving look. Chat cocked his head to the side.

"What's the matter, Ladybug?" Chat took a step toward her.

"How did you do that back at the school?" Ladybug asked. Chat smiled coyly.

"That was the power of love, my Lady."

Ladybug couldn't help but laugh at the cheesiness of his answer, which only caused Chat to smiled wider.

"You silly kitty." Ladybug recovered from her giggles. "Seriously what did you do?"

Chat sighed.

"It's complicated." Chat shrugged he walked across the arc to sit on the ledge. Ladybug followed him sitting next to him.

"Chat?" Ladybug hesitated before putting her hand on his shoulder. " I was talking to Tikki… she's my Kwami by the way, she told me that you might have made a deal with Plagg, your Kwami. Did you?"

Chat was quiet for a long time then he turned toward Ladybug with a smile.

"Yes, my Lady, but if you're going to express your concerns as well, I must insist that I am alright. I have no regrets." He assured her.

"Chat… I am worried." Ladybug scooted closer, one leg hanging off the Arc the other folded under her, her body facing toward Chat. Chat instinctively mirrored her position.

"When I spoke to Tikki, she made it sound like this was a tragic thing, something that came with a terrible price. She told me you had sold your soul for this power." She lightly touched the glowing paw print above his heart.

Chat cocked his head sideways a bit and stared at Ladybug for a moment, she held his gaze boldly. A slow grin spread across Chat's face, a very Cheshire grin, he took her hand in his removing it from his chest. Ladybug became away of two small fangs in Chat's mouth and blinked staring at them.

Chat poked her in the forehead breaking her gaze.

"My Lady, it isn't so dramatic as you have heard. I did promise to take on the mantle of Chat Noir so long as I live, but that isn't such a bad thing. You see I live a rather boring life, being Chat Noir is one of the more exciting things. Plus I couldn't let you die, my Lady. I would do anything to protect you, and having to keep the Miraculous until death… well I hardly consider it a difficult price to pay to keep you safe. Besides, there is nothing in my other life more important that seeing you." He flirted. Ladybug frowned.

"I don't know Chat… Tikki told me the other Chat Noir's that made this deal… they had tragic deaths, they all died young. I don't want that to happen to you."

Chat took Ladybug's hand and gave it a small squeeze.

"Maybe the other Chat Noir's didn't have such a beautiful reason to live for." He smiled.

Ladybug burst out into giggles again.

"You are such a dork." She smiled. She then looked over Paris then back to Chat, "I should probably get going." She sighed, "Don't forget I'm still worried about you." She pointed at Chat as she stood up and prepared her yo-yo. "Stay safe ok? You can call me if you need me." she told him with a small smile before she swung away leaving Chat to sit on the Arc de Triomphe alone.

Chat watched her swing off until he couldn't see her anymore before watching people slowly shuffle by on the streets below. Some were taking pictures, some were pointing up at him. He slipped away from the edge so he wouldn't be seen.

He tried staying still; thinking about homework but his mind kept wandering back to Ladybug and what she had said about tragic deaths. The thought made him pace; Hawkmoth would legitimately be trying to kill him for his Miraculous. He shivered. He certainly didn't want to die. He had promised Ladybug he'd stay by her side, that he would always be there for her, not only that but he didn't want to leave Nino.

He wondered what Nino would think if he found out about his demise, he'd probably be surprised that Adrien was Chat Noir to begin with. Chat gave a small smile at what Alya might do when she found out that information. He shook his head before his thoughts turned dark, his father.

What would his father do if he were to die?

A stream of bitter thoughts invaded his head. He took off running across the rooftops as if he could escape them. His father… he was always so cold and distant, so strict. Would he feel anything if his only child died? Adrien had heard about what other parents were like; his father wasn't like any of them. According to Nino fathers were supportive and protective and they cared for their sons. Chloe had taught him that fathers would do anything for their children, even to the point of insanity. Marinette's father was kind, and seemed like he cared deeply for his daughter, a gentle giant. Truthfully Adrien didn't know his father well enough to judge if he would even mourn his death, as a father should.

 _Maybe he'd regret the loss of an asset_. A small contrite part of him whispered.

Chat shook his head as he came to a stop atop a roof.

Now wasn't the time to be thinking about it, there was really no use in worrying about what may or may not be, nor what his father would do should something happen. He slipped on some loose tiles and tumbled onto a balcony like roof barely managing to catch himself and nearly knocking over a small table.

He winced hoping that he hadn't woken whoever lived inside. He tried to turn to leave but his eyes met a familiar blue.

"Princess!" Chat blushed beneath the mask. Marinette was poking her head out of a window that lead to the balcony, she had what looked like a plastic arm in her hand. Her eyes narrowed at him, suspicious, and her hand gripped the mannequin's arm tighter.

"What are you doing?" She hissed, the window open just enough for her to peer out; she didn't dare to open the window any further.

"Can a knight simply visit his Princess to show his allegiance?" Chat grinned, Marinette rolled her eyes but slipped out onto the roof with him, though she still held the mannequin's arm at the ready.

"It's 21:00, it's a little late." Marinette frowned seeming upset. "Where's your partner? Is something wrong?" She glanced around as if looking for Ladybug.

"Just me right now, nothing is wrong, the city is quiet as far as super villains are concerned." Chat shrugged with a forced smile. "What are you doing up if it's so late?" Chat leaned close to her. Marinette startled at his proximity.

"Working on a project… a dress to be exact." She opened the skylight back up and threw the mannequin's arm back into her room. "At least I was trying to before you showed up."

"Really? A dress?" Chat cocked his head to the side and tried to peer into the window but Marinette unabashedly pushed him away.

"It's not ready yet!" She gave him a murderous look Chat hadn't expected from her and held his hands up in defeat.

"Very well, I shall follow my princesses commands." He grinned. Marinette gave a sigh of relief. Chat held his finger up to signal an ultimatum. "I would like to see it when it's finished though. May I be the first?" He was curious; he'd seen the hat she'd designed, though she'd had to replace the pigeon feathers with fake feathers when he eventually modeled it as Adrien. He was impressed with her talent, it was every bit as good as the fake Chloe had professionally made. Marinette gave him a strange look.

"I can't promise that, Alya will probably be the first… or my parents, but you can be the first person from the outside that sees it if you'd like. Though I'm not sure why you're interested." Marinette gave him the side eye. Chat gave her a charming smirk.

"And lose the opportunity to see my princess in her ball gown, I think not." Chat waved dramatically.

"Quite presumptuous of you to think I'll model it for you it's it, Chat?" Marinette teased, then she dropped her voice and turned her head talking more to herself than Chat. "I was kind of hoping Adrien would be the first to see me wear it."

Chat didn't think he was meant to hear that. He frowned. Why would it matter if Adrien saw it first? He put his finger to his chin as he thought; perhaps it was because of his father? Maybe she hoped that if Adrien saw the dress he'd mention her to his father? It kind of stung to think Marinette would use him like that, but he wouldn't mind mentioning it to his father… If his father ever listened to anything he had to say.

"Chat?" Marinette's voice was soft and brought him back to earth. Her kind blue eyes reminded him of their brief moment in the library before the Akuma attack. No. Marinette wouldn't use him, he decided, she wouldn't think like that. He gave her another sly grin.

"Should I be jealous of this Adrien, Princess?" He smirked. Marinette blushed hard and looked like she wanted to hit him; her eyes narrowed, cheeks puffed out and hands clenched into fists. Chat laughed, so that was it; Marinette had a crush on Adrien. He hadn't realized it before.

"I… er…. That is none of your business Chat Noir!" She folded her arms and gave him a strange mixture of a glare and a pout that somehow seemed to work and look adorable. He held his hand over his heart like he'd been wounded.

"Ah, so even my Princess's heart has been stolen by another." He joked. Marinette rolled her eyes.

"I don't believe for one moment you were sincerely flirting with me." She glanced at him then her eyes turned kind, "I take it Ladybug has spurned your affections as well, she's in love with someone else?"

Chat realized she must have seen his broken heart behind the smile, he sighed and sat down on the banister, balancing delicately on the rail.

"It is as you say. Perhaps she views me as too much of a flirt? She recently let me know that the person she loves doesn't really notice her. That idiot doesn't even realize what he has in front of him. I could go the whole 'If I were your love I'd do such and such to prove it to you' route, but I feel like that would be taking advantage of her feelings. It would be kind of a dick move." Chat shrugged. "Maybe I love her too much. I just feel kind of hopeless and empty sometimes, I treasure our friendship and I hope things don't get weird between us because of this, but there will always be that awkward element you know?" Marinette nodded and sat on the chair she had on the balcony.

"I know the feeling. The guy I like, Adrien, his last name is Agreste, and he's a famous model. He's so handsome, nice, sweet, caring, kind, and seems perfect. He's my celebrity crush." She blushed, "Before he transferred into our school it was like any other celebrity crush, but then I got to know him, he sits in front of me and that still doesn't make it easy to talk to him. I saw him at a photo shoot once, before I knew him and I fainted when he smiled at me and winked." She covered her face with her hands, "He's such a handsome boy. When he transferred in and I thought I was going to die. But he doesn't really know me. He hardly talks to me. But I can see why, I just get so tongue-tied around him and then I can't speak and then I sound like a broken robot. I don't know, before it was just a crush, but then when I started going to school with him I started getting to know him more and I just fell in love with him. He probably thinks I'm a crazy person or have some sort of mental disorder." Marinette groaned. Chat laughed.

"If he's as kind as you think he probably doesn't think you have a mental disorder."

"Maybe it doesn't matter… I sit behind him in class, I overheard him talking to Nino, he's a mutual friend that is Adrien's best friend, and I overheard him talking about this girl he's in love with. Apparently he's making progress… while I'm happy that he's happy I'm also super jealous because she seems to know him so well. He seems smitten." Marinette sighed dejectedly. It was quiet for a bit, there was the sound of laughter on the street below them, Chat watched as a couple held hands and wandered down the streets of Paris. He felt envious of their relationship.

"I don't even know who Ladybug is under the mask." Chat said suddenly turning back to Marinette who jumped at his sudden confession.

"Oh?"

"Yeah… I know a lot of people assume we know each other but we don't. She wants to keep our identities secret, even from each other. I'm still not sure why. You know I had an opportunity to see who she was? I closed the door on her, the girl of my dreams. I suppose she might have hated me if I exposed her without her consent. It would have been an unforgivable violation and she would probably never talk to me again. At the time I hadn't really been thinking about how she would retaliate though. It was more about not violating her because that would be a terrible thing to do, not because of how she might punish me for it." Chat slipped off the balcony and sat on the roof near Marinette.

"I want so desperately to know who she is. I want to know all of her… her favorite colour, her favorite foods. She usually won't even share that in case I use the information to figure out who she is. I won't deny that even when I try not to think about it, I think about it. I kinda stalk the Ladyblog for information about her, who she is where she's been. Plagg thinks it's crazy, keeps suggesting that I just follow her and find out. I just can't do that to her though. I guess following her exploits through the Ladyblog is a bit of a stalker-ish thing to do though. She'd never let me live it down if she knew." He shivered.

"I subscribe to all the fashion magazines with Adrien in them. I read all of his interviews and even made him a birthday present." Marinette blushed, "That was kind of a stalker-ish thing to do too. Its kind of hard not to be a complete stalker when the person you love is a public figure?" She offered in defense. Chat laughed.

"So this present, did you work up the courage to give it to him?" Chat smiled. Marinette sighed. "That's a complicated story."

"Maybe another night?"

Marinette stood, "I should be getting to bed, I have school in the morning."

"Me too, do you… you don't mind if stop by again do you? We can be like the broken hearts semi-stalker club together? Plus I'll be needing to check on the progress on your dress so I can be the first outsider to see it, remember?" Chat stood and gave Marinette a coy grin.

"I'll think about it."

"Me-ouch, after the heart to heart we just had?" Chat teased.

"I can't exactly have a superhero dropping by every night. Plus I like my privacy. You dropping in unexpectedly is kind of scary, what if I'm changing?" She blushed.

"How about this, if it's okay to visit, leave a sign on the balcony, or in your window, that way I can be sure not to drop in on you while you're changing." Chat offered. Marinette frowned for a moment, then nodded.

"Actually I like that idea." She gave him a kind smile. "I've actually enjoyed this Chat, I'm surprised you didn't fill the time with bad puns." Chat took her hand and kissed it softly, a gesture he usually reserved for Ladybug.

"There's still time purr-incess." He smiled. Marinette could feel his smile against her hand, his bright green eyes shone up at her, the mirth and mischief returned.

"You've got to be kitten me." She smiled back. Chat laughed and stood close to her… perhaps a bit close.

"Careful, Princess, I might fall in love with you instead." He teased, his grin spread and Marinette caught a glimpse of two sharp canines. Then suddenly, Chat was gone; to Marinette he appeared to have simply vanished. Chat was running full speed across Paris; if one was lucky they might catch a black blur flitting across the rooftops.

Chat slipped into the bedroom transforming back into Adrien and slumping against the window with a huff.

A plethora of emotions overwhelmed him. _"Careful, Princess, I might fall in love with you instead."_ Why did he say that to her? Did he mean it? He blushed. His heart beat strongly in his chest; perhaps it was bearing his heart to her that had set the mood. It wasn't as strong as what he felt for Ladybug, it wasn't as intense or overwhelming. It was scary and new and whatever it was, there had been an undeniable connection between him and her. At the moment he said it; there was more than a budding friendship that prompted his words. He shook his head.

"I thought I was going to have to listen to you two talk for hours." Plagg complained flying back over with a piece of cheese from the stash Adrien had in a mini fridge in his closet. "What was that about?" He frowned.

Adrien shook his head. "I don't know." He glanced out into the night sky. Marinette agreed to see him again. His heart clenched with excitement and fear and a small smile graced his lips.

"What are you smiling about?" Plagg cocked his head to the side.

"I'll get to see her again." He stood up and began preparing for bed.

"So what? You'll see her at school tomorrow." Plagg finished off his wedge of cheese and helped himself to another. Adrien paused briefly before shaking his head.

"This is different Plagg, Adrien isn't seeing her, Chat is. I don't have to pretend with her. She's special. Unique. Exciting. I don't know. It's almost exhilarating! I can be myself I don't have to be confined into a small box, I can speak my mind and she listens and she even seemed to enjoy it. She shared her own troubles with me." Adrien smiled. "I've only ever had that with Nino, no… this is something even beyond that, with Nino… there a still restrictions, but with her… it's a whole new level. We connected. We shared a moment."

"Yeah, she shared her troubles _about you_ with _you_." Plagg joked.

Adrien rolled his eyes. "At least now I know why she can't seem to say two words to me without turning into a babbling mess and hiding behind Alya." Adrien laughed to himself. "I really like seeing this other side of her. She sweet, but confident, and funny."

"Maybe you should try and get her to be like that around Adrien." Plagg suggested. Adrien pulled on his pajama bottoms. "That's actually a good idea."

"I'm full of good ideas, you just never listen."

"Most of your ideas are about cheese."

"Exactly." Plagg nodded before gulping down another large piece of cheese. Adrien rolled his eyes and discarded his top, pausing briefly to stare down at the paw print branded into his chest.

"We're out of Camembert." Plagg called.

Adrien rolled his eyes then pulled on his pajama top before throwing his worn clothes into the laundry chute. "Then don't eat it all. You're going to have to eat the other cheeses until tomorrow, I'm going to sleep, I'm not sneaking down to the kitchen for you tonight." Adrien climbed into bed.

"Fine." Plagg zipped about licking the last of the Camembert from its container. Adrien closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, Plagg eventually joining him; slipping into the crook of Adrien's neck and snuggling down.

"I can't believe that happened." Marinette blushed to Tikki as she pulled her hair into ribbons in the morning. Tikki giggled.

"Maybe it's Marinette that captures Chat's heart, not just Ladybug." Tikki mused. Marinette rolled her eyes. "Why did I tell him all of that? The thing about stalking Adrien too? I have never been so embarrassed." Marinette blushed harder.

"What about the time you spilled coffee on Adrien?"

"Shhhhh… we made a pact not to bring that up remember?"

"Just trying to take your mind off last night." Tikki smiled landing on Marinette's hairbrush.

"Not helping. Making things worse." Marinette stared at her face in the mirror then made sure her pigtails were symmetrical. She then lightly smacked her cheeks as if that would help mentally prepare her for the day. "Ok, I'm ready for today." She decided and she left her bathroom throwing her books in her bag hastily and making sure her phone was in her pocket.

"Should I tell Alya?" Marinette asked her Kwami, Tikki shrugged. "I think I'll keep it a secret for now." Marinette decided. She descended the stairs; her mom was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a croissant. Marinette pecked her on the cheek.

"Thanks Mom." She smiled. Sabine nodded with a small laugh.

"Alya is waiting downstairs for you, you're running late again." Sabine playfully chastised.

"I know, went to bed late. I was up working on my dress for the talent show." Marinette smiled. "I might have lunch with Alya today, I'll let you know."

Sabine nodded as Marinette took off.

"Have a good day at school."

Marinette ran into the bakery.

"Good morning, Marinette." Alya smiled.

"Gooff Merrfnig, Ahhhyaaa." Marinette waved with a mouth full of croissant. Alya laughed and the two of them let at a brisk walk. The first portion of the walk was fairly quiet, mostly due to the fact that Marinette was trying to eat her breakfast. As soon as that was done Alya leaned in with fresh gossip.

"I overheard from Sabrina that Chloe actually remembers the fight while she was Akumatized." Alya grinned. "I personally think it's due to the fact that Chat used cataclysm to destroy the Akuma rather than Ladybug cleansing it. I'm going to try and talk to Chloe about it. Though Sabrina says she might not be at school today because of it, says she's feeling off. Serves her right though. Maybe it's just Karma after all." Alya smirked. Marinette frowned.

"I know it's Chloe and all… but if she does remember I think it's pretty horrible." Marinette frowned. "She'd have to live with that burden, knowing she nearly killed Ladybug; someone she looks up to. That she was going around destroying buildings and hurting people just so she could force Adrien to marry her. I don't think even Chloe is that heartless. That's probably why she didn't come back to class. And after all of that to still have the anger to work through from the original reason she became possessed. I don't know Alya… it seems pretty horrible." Marinette shivered. This is why she had to cleanse the Akuma. It helped relieve the pain that caused them to become possessed, but it also kept them from remembering the harm they had caused when they were not in control. Alya was silent for a while.

"I never thought of it that way I guess… you're right. It is pretty horrible." Alya was somber. "When I was possessed I don't remember anything, just vague feelings of anger and a sense that Chloe had to pay. I don't remember everything I did, or how it felt really. I guess I wouldn't want to remember that anger and how it drove my actions." Alya reasoned.

They walked along quietly for a while. The silence was a contemplative one.

"You're right, I kinda feel bad for Chloe. Do you think Ladybug can still cleanse the Akuma? Find a way to help her?"

"I don't know. Maybe? But the Akuma was destroyed, there is nothing left to cleanse."

"Maybe the ashes? Could she do something with those?"

"I don't know. Maybe you should put something up on your blog?" Marinette suggested.

"Maybe." Alya frowned. They lapsed back into silence. As the reached the school, Nino and Adrien stood out front talking. Adrien glanced up and smiled.

"Good morning, Marinette. Good Morning, Alya." He gave a polite wave.

"Morning Boys." Alya gave a wave back.

"Morning girls." Nino parroted with a grin.

"Mmmmm." Marinette managed. She was lost in Adrien's kind eyes; they were looking right at her. He seemed to chuckle and broke eye contact turning back to Nino and continuing their previous conversation. Alya dragged Marinette up the steps.

"You've got it bad." Alya laughed.

"He said good morning to me first." She held her hands over her heart. Alya chuckled as they prepared for their first class.

"Yeah he did. Maybe he finally realized his undying love for you." Alya smiled suggestively. Marinette blushed and began shoving books into her locker.

"Really?"

"Of course! What's not to love after all?"

"I'm gonna ask him to help work on the cushion project with me." Marinette decided. Alya gave her a light punch to the shoulder.

"You go girl."

Marinette smiled and nodded. The two walked to class together discussing the previous night's homework and the upcoming Talent show.

"I know I told Nino that I'd help with his film and all but he's impossible to work with! He keeps going on about drama and this and that and oh my god. It's like he won't listen to reason. He keeps altering my script with frivolous things like a 'dramatic kiss' scene. What is with that boy and adding unnecessary romance to my scripts!?"

Marinette laughed setting her books on her desk and taking a seat. Alya relieved her self of her books but did not sit down.

"It's like the story isn't worth while unless it has some romance. Now, I can write romance, I can do it. But I didn't put it in the script and now he's trying to force it. I know we're supposed to do it as joint project, writer/director duo. But I am getting to the point where I can't work with him." Alya huffed then sat heavily in her chair.

"Sounds like you two need to take a break."

"I wish, he keeps yelling how we're behind schedule. Well we wouldn't be if he didn't keep adding unnecessary kissing to the film." Alya rolled her eyes. "How about you, how's your dress coming?"

"I've hit a roadblock. The fabric I'm using is amazing, soft, elegant, looks good on camera, flash or no flash… but the thing is, it likes to snag. Sewing is getting tedious because of it. I might have to do some hand stitching." Marinette frowned.

"You'll figure it out, you always do."

"I know. Plus I decided on the design so last minute and all, I'm worried I won't get it finished in time. Especially since I'll be starting the cushion project here soon. Everyone has emailed me a list of special additions, fabrics, or colors they'd like to add to their cushions. Plus I'm trying to figure out a way to make them easy to carry. Perhaps a way to attach them to school bags… or straps?" Marinette frowned.

"Maybe you could add an adjustable ribbon or colored band that can double as a strap?" Adrien turned around joining in on the conversation. Marinette jumped she had been so caught up in everything she had to do she hadn't even noticed him arrive.

"T-that's a great idea." Marinette smiled. "Um… I could use more like it. W-would you consider being a co-designer on the project?"

"Really?" Adrien cocked his head to the side. Marinette had a slight feeling of déjà vu.

"Yeah. You're input and help would be greatly appreciated." Marinette smiled. Adrien was silent for a moment, thinking, then he pulled out his phone and scrolled through it quickly while Marinette held her breath in anticipation.

"I can only help out Mondays and Wednesdays between 16:00 and 19:00." Adrien smiled. "I would love to help though."

"Great! Meet her at her house tomorrow and you can get started!" Alya agreed for Marinette.

"I'll be there." Adrien smiled. "Oh, and are you girls all free for lunch today? Nino mentioned that we should all hang out sometime since we missed our movie night. Today would be a good day for me."

"Yeah." Marinette smiled. "There's a small Café not far from here, it's within walking distance and they have good food for good prices."

"Sounds like a plan." Alya smiled, Adrien turned to Nino who was listening to music and effectively ignoring the conversation. He tapped him in the shoulder and told him the plan while Alya gave Marinette a covert thumbs up.

Madame Bustier finally instructed the student to quiet down and began the lesson. Marinette could hardly think. Lunch seemed so far away and she was anxious to spend time with Adrien. She smiled to herself. Perhaps she'd have a small victory to share with Chat. She frowned. She still had to find something or think of something that would give Chat a sign that she would be able to meet with him. She decided whatever it was, it would be black cat related. She figured he'd recognize it immediately. She smiled to herself thinking about it, he'd probably get a big head about it and make a stupid pun. Perhaps she'd even make something, not that she'd ever tell him she made it, he'd get even more of a big head if he thought she put too much thought into it. She started sketching in the corners of her notebook. It was a small, simple black cat with big green button eyes. She nodded to herself; she had a pair of light green buttons that glowed in the dark. They'd be perfect.

She glanced up at the board and quickly copied down what was written before returning to her sketch. The stitching could glow too, just to add something extra, and to make it more visible. She had some glowing paint; perhaps she could soak the thread in the paint before she used it then let it dry, hopefully the pain would soak into the fibers and make them glow. She frowned, the problem with the plan was it might make her thread too stiff to use. And of course a golden bell around the neck of the cat to finish it off. Marinette smiled content with her design. Thinking about how she would make the cat distracted her from everything that might go wrong during lunch with Adrien. She resolved to make it a thin stuffed animal, a 2d cut out but with some slight stuffing to give it more substance.

Marinette looked up at the board again and gave a small internal scream before quickly trying to catch up on notes. She didn't have time to focus on her plans because class quickly distracted her.

Marinette's heart was in her throat when lunch finally arrived. Alya and Marinette waited outside for Adrien and Nino to meet up with them. Marinette had already texted her parents and informed them of her lunch plans to which they wished her luck and a good day. Marinette bounced with excitement as Adrien and Nino approached. They were talking about video games.

"I'm telling you melee weapons are superior, I'm not saying you don't have to know how to use a bow, but a sword or a staff are superior in these games." Adrien argued.

"It would be more useful to avoid the fight all together, if you can essentially snipe out your opponents then you don't even have to learn how to fight, easy win." Nino responded.

"If you waste all of your skill points upgrading your bow abilities then what are you going to do when you get caught? If you have to go one on one with your opponent?" Adrien argued. Nino conceded the point.

"You make a good argument but I'm still focusing on archery."

"Marinette, Alya, if you were playing a fantasy MMORPG what do you think would be superior, the sword or the bow?" Adrien asked as they began walking. Alya frowned.

"Personally I would focus on spells if it's fantasy." She shrugged. "I'm a mage myself."

"Marinette?" Adrien turned eager for her opinion. Marinette jumped.

"I… ah… oh… I um… I prefer Arena fighting games." She stammered. Adrien looked her over and Marinette felt vulnerable, what if her zipper was down?

"Is that so, we should totally have a gaming session together." Adrien said with a smile and a nod, then he pulled out his phone and began scrolling through it rapidly as they walked. Marinette blushed then fell in step with Adrien while Alya and Nino continued the debate, this time debating the pros and cons of Magic vs Archery.

"But when you run out of MP you're essentially useless."

"What about when you run out of arrows?!"

"Ah… no good." Adrien sighed. "I don't have much time in my schedule… just a few minutes here, a half an hour there, its not enough time to get into a game, that is if I'm going to continue helping with the cushions."

Marinette frowned.

"Such is life, I guess." Adrien sighed. "I'll loan you some games if you want.."

"Um… w-what system do you have?"

Adrien was silent then he looked away.

"Uh… all of them?" He winced and gave her small polite smile. "I know spoiled rich kid right?" He gave a soft laugh.

"Oh… no… I mean… I don't think that."

"You'd be the first. Even Nino teases me about if from time to time." Adrien shrugged.

"He'd probably just jealous." Marinette smiled at him before looking away with a blush.

"He's definitely jealous." Adrien gave her a mischievous grin. Marinette had never seen him grin like that, her heart pounded a little faster. "So, you like video games, what else do you do?"

"Oh… you know… stuff." Marinette blushed.

"Stuff… uh… ok, that's informative." Adrien didn't seem to know what else to say, but his response was not sarcastic or cruel. Marinette steeled herself deciding that if she could save Paris, she could talk to Adrien.

"Well… I like to design things. Clothes, dresses, phone cases, purses, that sort of thing."

"That's right. You won the design contest. And I've seen your drawings, I think they're pretty good. To be honest I've wanted to ask you about them for a while." Adrien admitted.

"R-really?"

"Yeah. It's just every time I seem to get close to you or try and ask about them, you scream and run away. I was beginning to think you didn't like me." Adrien gave her a playful smile and Marinette blushed and turned away.

"Oh… I'm a mess aren't I. It… I l-l-l… look I just find you intimidating to talk to." Marinette hid behind her hands. Adrien gave a good-natured laugh.

"At least that's all it is. I was worried I'd miss out on your friendship."

"Oh… I… just… you'll have to give me a while to get used to this." Marinette blushed. "Talking to you that is. Or seeing you. Not seeing you seeing you, like we're dating seeing you. I mean obviously not like that HA HA! Right… I just am or was… still is… was… am… you… model good." Marinette babbled. Adrien blinked in confusion.

"Um… Thanks?"

"I'm just going to stop talking now." Marinette looked away. Alya gave her an understanding look before Nino recaptured her attention.

"I'm used to it." Adrien gave her a kind smile and patted her shoulder. They veered into a Café following Alya and Nino. Conversation was suspended briefly while everyone ordered then sat around a table waiting for their food. Discussion turned to the upcoming talent show.

"Marinette is making a dress." Alya offered. Marinette blushed slightly as Adrien turned to her.

"Really? I'd love to see it." He smiled.

"Oh… well maybe you'll see it at the Talent Show. I'll be modeling it." She smiled. Adrien's face fell slightly. "You don't have to I mean, no pressure." Marinette held her hands up and waved.

"No, I'd love to it's just… I have a high profile photo shoot to attend the same day. I tried to get it off but my father wouldn't allow any exceptions. I don't mind that much really, but I'm sorry to miss an opportunity to see your work." Adrien smiled.

"Oh… I'll… uh… send you some pictures."

"Cool." Adrien smiled. "I am looking forward to Alya and Nino's film, at least if they could stop arguing about it."

"It's not my fault she can't see my artistic vision."

"Maybe you should stop trying to force romance that isn't there."

"Romance spices up any plot, I thought girls liked that sort of thing."

"I wrote the script and I'm a girl, I think I'm the authority."

"Well I am the director and I think a romantic subplot would add dimension."

"I already has dimension, romance isn't necessary!"

And so it went.

Marinette and Adrien laughed.

The food was ready. Adrien went to retrieve the food with Nino leaving Alya with Marinette.

"See, this isn't so bad." Alya gave Marinette a nudge with her elbow.

"You're right. He's just a person… a beautiful, famous, kind, and caring person but still a person." Marinette sighed. Alya laughed.

"Yeah. And you have all of tomorrow evening to look forward to spending time with him. _Alone_. _In your room_." Alya waggled her eyebrow suggestively. Marinette turned bright red.

"Alya!"

Adrien and Nino returned to the table. Alya was laughing and Marinette was blushing.

"Are you all right?" Adrien set Marinette's sandwich in front of her. Seeing Adrien made her blush harder, if such a thing were possible.

"Ah- yes! E-E-E-everything is just f-f-fine." Marinette opened her sandwich and began shoving it in her mouth while Alya laughed. Nino and Adrien both looked to her for explanation but she remained cryptically quiet.

"We should plan on seeing a movie, the four of us, since last time didn't pan out." Alya smiled.

"I would enjoy that, but I don't have a lot of time in my schedule… maybe a Monday or a Wednesday after Marinette and I finish the cushion project. Or maybe we can take a break from it later to do it, I'm not sure how strict our schedule will be." Adrien turned to Marinette who had stopped scarfing her sandwich down and was eating it like a normal person.

"I don't know. I promised cushions by next month. I guess it all depends on how it goes while we work. I'm sure we can make time for a movie though. My sewing skills are top notch." Marinette gave a confident smile.

"I'm cool with whenever." Nino shrugged. "I don't have too much going on other than the film project."

"Same, except the Ladyblog."

"Would you mind recording some of the Talent Show for me Alya? It's just… I've never been to one before and I was excited to go to this years. Since I can't come I'm hoping you wouldn't mind recording some videos for me to watch."

"No problem Adrien. Plus there is a special piece I'm going to be showing in the Ladyblog, so if nothing else there will be a video for that."

"You've never been to a talent show?"

"Ah… no. I've just been homeschooled; I missed last year's talent show because of the whole Akuma attack thing. I was trapped on the other side of the school during auditions and then my father decided to take a trip to Italy and wanted me to come with him."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. It was simply not to be." Adrien gave his signature smile.

"What was your talent going to be? I'm curious now, Agreste."

"I was going to preform a poem in Chinese. Nino thought it was lame, but I thought the poem was good."

"Poetry is lame."

"You just don't appreciate it." Adrien rolled his eyes.

"Whatever." Nino shrugged before finishing off his food.

"If it helps I like poetry." Marinette gave a shy smile. Adrien returned it. He turned to Nino.

"At least Marinette has taste." He gave him a sly grin.

"If you say so."

"Maybe I'll just replace Marinette as my best friend. She's obviously the superior choice." Adrien draped his arm around Marinette's shoulders. "Besides, she is infinitely better looking." Adrien gave a Chat-like grin to Marinette. However, she was frozen in terror. Adrien paused then un-tucked his arm from around her shoulder. "Oh, my apologizes Marinette. I forgot myself; I perhaps got a bit too carried away when teasing Nino. I didn't mean to catch you off guard or make you uncomfortable."

"Oh… no… it's fine." Marinette blushed. He had touched her, draped his arm around her even!

"Besides, she was my best friend first." Alya interjected.

"I still stand by what I said though. You are far more beautiful than Nino." He gave a light-hearted chuckle just as his phone started ringing, he checked the caller ID. "I have to get this, it's Nathalie." He excused himself from the table and left the Café, standing outside on the sidewalk to talk. Marinette gave a contented sigh and leaned into Alya who rolled her eyes as Nino raised his eyebrows.

"I don't know… I think I could stand a change against Marinette in a beauty contest… what do you think Alya?" Nino turned to her.

"With the right dress maybe." Alya teased. She nudged Marinette toward her food.

Alya and Marinette were done eating by the time Adrien returned. He had a distracted look on his face.

"Dude, everything alright?"

"Nothing that wasn't expected." He smiled slightly. "I'll tell you some other time." He shrugged as he sat down to finish off his lunch. Marinette frowned wondering what could have made him feel so down in such a short time. However, Adrien finished and they began the trek back to the school.

Alya and Nino began discussing their film project, attempting to reach some compromise, leaving Adrien and Marinette alone together. Adrien didn't talk much but seemed somber and pensive as they walked. Marinette looked away unsure how to comfort him. A long silence stretched between the two. Adrien's expression grew darker with every step. Marinette couldn't stand it anymore.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

Adrien glanced over at Marinette then smiled, his mood seemed to brighten slightly.

"Maybe later. We're almost back." He gestured to the school, not more that a street away. Marinette nodded and silence filled the space between them once more.

Nino and Alya's conversation began to devolve back into argument and Nino broke off, putting his headphones on and zipping to his locker as they entered the school.

Adrien rolled his eyes then gave Marinette's shoulder a slight squeeze.

"Thanks." He smiled.

"What for?"

"Your friendship." He too broke rank to attend to his own locker.

Marinette smiled. Even if Adrien would never consider her in a romantic way, it was reassuring to know he considered her a friend.

Marinette put the last stitches in with a smile. The cat's button eyes peered up at her from her workbench.

"I'm impressed you finished so quickly, you can really work fast when you set your mind to it." Tikki smiled. The Kwami was perched atop a miniature dresser and was eating a cookie. Marinette kept buttons, decals, sequins, and other odds and ends in the drawers, anything she might need for sewing.

She stood up and stretched checking the time.

16:00

She still had time before she met up with Chat for a quick patrol around the city. Chat had first suggested it. Occasionally they would catch a stray Akuma flitting about the skyline and she would purify it before it had a chance to possess anybody. Perhaps Chat had been looking for an excuse to see her more often but it had become a regular habit to devote a few hours out of the week to patrolling the city. They had even stopped muggings and normal crime before while on a patrol.

Marinette sighed. She decided it would probably be best to use the time she had for homework; especially if Chat decided to drop in. She cast one last glance at the stuffed cat before starting her physics homework.


	3. The Death

Chat found Ladybug sitting atop the Eiffel Tower. He smiled and landed silently next to her.

"You look beautiful tonight, my Lady."

Ladybug smiled at him and stood.

"You don't look half bad yourself silly kitty. Purr-haps a bit of bed head."

Chat cocked his head to the side and grinned. Ladybug was still trying to get used to his new fangs and focused on those while he smirked.

"I can't believe mew made a cat pun be-fur-e me."

"I'm in a good mood."

Chat smiled and sidled up to her, staring at her with a love struck expression.

"How's the view?"

"Breathtaking, wouldn't you say." Ladybug looked out over Paris.

"Amazing…" He smiled still staring at Ladybug. She raised an eyebrow and he glanced out over the city, "Paris doesn't compare."

"You better stop with the flattery, silly kitty." Ladybug folded her arms and turned away.

"Or what?" Chat's grin turned playful. Ladybug gave him a confident smirk. She took off over the rooftops. Chat grinned before following her, keeping up the pace. He would get close and she would evade him with a twist and a grin. She disappeared behind a building. Chat popped over the top and frowned when he couldn't find her.

A flick of red on the horizon caught his attention and his smirked before chasing her.

She was hiding behind a chimney. Chat landed softly on the other side. Ladybug peeked around, as she did so Chat slunk to the other side and grabbed her hand.

"Caught you." He smiled. Ladybug jumped slightly at his sudden appearance, then laughed. Chat smiled wider. He could lose himself in that laugh. He let her hand go and leaned against the bricks.

"So, why are you _feline_ so good today?"

Ladybug smiled, then paused, a thoughtful look crossing her face before she shook her head.

"Just had a good day, finished my homework, had fun with friends. Does it need to be something special?"

Chat shrugged and started walking along the roof, Ladybug followed and they sat on the ledge together.

"How are you doing? Keeping out of trouble I hope." Ladybug teased.

"I am trouble."

"You're a dork, that's what you are."

"Ah, but I'm your dork." He smiled then his expression turned dark and he glanced away. Ladybug frowned wondering what could be bothering him.

"Chat? Are you ok?"

"Just going through some things with my father." He shrugged. "Nothing important. I'll survive." He went back to grinning but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"You want to talk about it?"

"I thought you wanted to keep our identities a secret?" He raised an eyebrow. Ladybug was silent for a moment then shook her head.

"I want to be there for you, you're my friend." She protested, she then sighed and looked away thoughtfully. "I do want to keep our identities secret though. Maybe you can give me generalizations, not specifics."

"Ok…" He paused for a moment gathering his thoughts. "Generalizations, not specifics," he repeated in agreement. "My father cancelled plans I was looking forward to. He apologized and blah, blah, blah, his work is very important, blah, blah, blah, and he'll make it up to me." He rolled his eyes. "This thing we were going to do was him 'making it up to me' for a time before when he cancelled at the last minute, which in turn was making it up from something else he promised and ended up breaking the promise for. He's not so good at keeping his promises." He shrugged and tried to pass it off as no big deal, but inside his anger was building up again.

"I wish I could help." Ladybug gave him a sympathetic look.

"I should expect it by now, but every time he gets my hopes up." Chat shook his head. "No, maybe I was setting myself up for disappointment. I really hoped… I really wanted to go with him to… the thing… but of course he cancelled." Chat's tail flicked angrily behind him. "I've done everything I can for him, I've tried to be the perfect son you know? Tried to do everything to please him. I just thought for once he could spend a little time with me. After everything we've been through! After everything I've been through!" Chat's ears flattened against his head and a slight hiss entered his voice as his frustration grew.

"I don't know… I just…" He shook his head, stood and paced. "After my mom vanished… I don't know. I guess I try to be there for him. Try to help, but what use is it? How can I be there for him if he won't let me even be with him! After all of this I've stood by him, tried to support him in anyway, I've been _perfect_! I stay on his strict diet, I go to… do things for him, I'm top of my class, I'm fluent 3 different languages and I'm working on a fourth, I can play piano, guitar, violin, I fence, know martial arts, and I even save Paris in my down time! It's just not enough for him!" Chat's hand clenched into fists, then he sighed heavily and shook his head. Ladybug was caught off guard by the amount he had revealed, they both knew he was dangerously close to revealing his secret identity through the amount he'd shared. "I'm just not good enough." Chat trailed off.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not a big deal. I should have expected it. But I still had hope," Chat parroted empty words. "It's my fault for imagining he'd want to spend more time with his son that his job." Chat's cat ears went flat against his head again, he returned to sitting next to Ladybug. Ladybug put her hand on his shoulder and he seemed to relax slightly. They sat in silence for a while. Chat glared at the ground, his thoughts angry. He wasn't sure if he should have shared that all with Ladybug. Her hand was a comforting presence on his shoulder, but at the same time he felt as if he was going to explode. He shook his head and smiled at Ladybug who looked at him with concern.

"I'll be fine, just needed to blow off some steam. I have class in the morning, what do you say we call it a night." He stood pulling Ladybug to her feet with him. She nodded.

"For what it's worth Chat, I think you're good enough. I couldn't do this without you." She smiled.

Chat nodded and Ladybug swung away, he stared after her until he could no longer see her.

"Thanks, my Lady. I think you're lying to make me feel better, but thanks." He sighed and began wandering around the rooftops.

He went slowly. He wasn't anxious to return home. He needed to sort out his thoughts, plus the rebellious act of staying out late made him happy. Even if he realized it was petty.

He kicked a piece of loose tile and growled. He was disappointed, angry and sad even. He wasn't sure what all he was feeling, maybe some resentment or some resignation? He came to a stop and sat on the edge of the roof again, staring at the street below.

His father had promised that he'd take Adrien to see _A Midsummer Night's Dream_ on Friday. Adrien had been looking forward to it, not just the show, but sharing the experience with his father. Was he surprised that Gabriel Agreste had cancelled? No. Was he still disappointed? Yes. But why did he have so much anger about it. His father had cancelled time and time again, usually leaving Adrien with Nathalie to see the show; what had changed that made him so angry? Chat jumped up irritated again and ran a hand through his hair, he realized he was shaking from the anger.

A low growl rose in his throat and he took off running, pushing himself faster and faster. He eventually came to a stop on a roof across from a familiar bakery.

"Marinette." He smiled softly. He glanced about before his eyes rested on a small cat in the windowsill. The cat had been propped up against the window pane and its bright button eyes gave a slight glow in the twilight. Chat sighed in relief and used his staff to launch himself across the street to the balcony. He landed lightly and gave two soft raps on the skylight. Marinette's smile greeted him from below. She held up a finger, mouthed the word "wait" and she disappeared from view. Chat curiously looked for her around the room. She was returning with a small box.

Chat stepped back from the sky light as Marinette opened it and joined him on the roof. Chat sniffed the air, it smelled of freshly baked cookies and his mouth started to water.

Marinette sat down on the lawn chair and held the box out to Chat.

"You made me cookies purr-incess? Thank Mew." He took the box and opened it, the cookies were still warm, and he wasted no time in shoving one in his mouth, an action that would have appalled his father. He took small comfort in that.

"Well I do work at a bakery, we made a few extra and I decided to take some up to my room. My papa says it's a wonder how I'm so skinny." She laughed. Chat sat across from Marinette on the floor.

"I'm surprised you allowed me to see you so soon. Anything interesting happen at school?"

"You're tolerable for the time being Chat, and as a matter of fact I had an excellent day." She smiled, Chat took another cookie and grinned, mouth full of chocolate. Marinette rolled her eyes at him but continued her story. "You know my crush right? I got to have lunch with him, he might even be helping me with this project I'm working on as class president." She then blushed. "Oh no, he's going to be in my house… in my _room!"_

"Your room looks fine?" Chat cocked his head to the side curiously.

"You don't understand! I have pictures of him from magazines in there! He's going to think I'm a total creep…" She bit her lip. "I'll have to take them down before he gets here."

Chat was caught between laughing, being flattered that she had saved magazine pictures of him, and being slightly concerned about whether or not she was a stalker. He shoved another cookie in his mouth. He thought of the pictures he'd saved of Ladybug downloaded from the Ladyblog and shrugged; he was obviously no better, he'd give Marinette the benefit of the doubt. He ate another cookie and looked up at Marinette. She was lost in thought, Chat prodded her knee but she just shook her head and frowned hard. Chat frowned and poked her again, this time Marinette's eyes focused back on him.

"Sorry. Lots going on." She gave a nervous laugh. "What's up with you?"

Chat shrugged and continued eating cookies. Marinette frowned.

"You're the one who stopped by here for conversation. It's not much of a conversation if I'm the only one talking."

"Plenty of people have one sided conversations with cats." Chat teased with another chocolate grin. Marinette stared at his fangs; he quickly closed his mouth. "Do they bother you?" he asked before cleaning his teeth with is tongue.

"No." She said looking away quickly. She then glanced back at him. "You never had them before. My friend Alya runs the Ladyblog, trust me, I would know. She constantly shows me pictures of the two of you."

"They're new." He smiled so that she could see them better, this time without chocolate.

"Hmmm…" She stared at them. Chat grinned wider she looked up at his eyes a slightly pained expression came over her face. Chat panicked.

"What!? What's wrong?"

"It's just… I… I'm not sure." She shook her head. Chat stared at her. They lapsed back into silence; Marinette seemed to study him while Chat shrank under her gaze. It was like she was exposing him; maybe she had realized he was Adrien. He lowered his head staring into the cookie box. He'd eaten about four and tried to convince himself he was debating on eating a fifth, but in reality Marinette blue eyes pierced his soul, he couldn't keep looking at them.

"Are you ok, Chat?" Marinette asked. Chat looked up and gave her a crooked smile.

"Of course, Princess."

"Don't lie."

"You caught me red pawed; I lied." He smiled. Marinette's eyes were kind.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I know it might put your identity at stake." She said and then she took a breath. "But if you wanted to talk, I'll listen."

Chat smiled at her.

"I've already had my rant for the night. Long story short, I'm not good enough, my father is being an arse, yet I still want his validation and attention." Chat shrugged before helping himself to another cookie.

"If you keep eating those at that pace you're going to get sick." Marinette folded her arms. "And besides that, you are perfectly good enough. Don't let your father make you feel like you're not."

Chat glanced over at her and closed the cookie box.

"Tell me more about lunch with Adrien." He smirked eager to change the topic.

"It was amazing. We talked for a while. He plays video games, I guess he's more into MMORPG's though, I'm personally the best Ultimate Mech Strike player France has ever known." She struck the "firepower" pose, "When Marinette is on the controller it's off the hook!" She announced. Chat laughed.

"Ah it's just as I thought." Chat shook his head his hand lightly touching his forehead mimicking a dramatic anime style pose.

"What?" Marinette's eyes narrowed.

"You're a dork." Chat teased as returned to his Cheshire self.

"And you're not!?" She huffed, her cheeks puffed out as she glared.

"Guilty as charged, Princess."

Marinette rolled her eyes again.

"You're intolerable. Here make yourself useful…" Marinette said as she opened the skylight.

"I'm already useful." Chat folded his arms and looked pointedly away.

"Make yourself more useful and help me take down these pictures." Marinette rolled her eyes as she entered her room through the skylight. Chat at the edge of the light and looked into her room with wide eyes, watching as she started to gather pictures of Adrien from the walls. She turned to look for him then frowned looking back up the skylight where he sat.

"What are you waiting for?" She frowned folding her arms.

"But this is your room." Chat offered.

"Yeah, so?"

"I mean… it's your room… and your parents don't know I'm here… and it's after hours… it's…" Chat shook his head. "I don't want to impugn your honor, Purrincess."

Marinette turned bright red and seemed to be caught between yelling and exploding. Chat backed away, his ears down turned and looking quite pitiful.

"My honor is just fine thank you." She turned on her heel and continued pulling pictures off the walls. Chat watched as the stacks of photos grew. Marinette carefully wrapped them and stuck them in a drawer, making sure to stick some fabric above it. She turned back to Chat and frowned.

"What happened to being useful?" She teased.

"Cats do what they want."

Marinette laughed and climbed back out onto the roof. Chat returned to his box of cookies and decided to eat another; at a slower pace this time.

"Do they get in the way?"

Marinette asked suddenly. Chat frowned.

"The cookies?" he licked his lips.

"No… those things." She pointed to his mouth then her own teeth. Chat ran his tongue over the points in his mouth.

"Not really… I don't really notice them unless I think about them I guess." He shrugged before finishing his cookie. Marinette watched from her seat thoughtfully.

"Did… did it hurt?" She finally asked. Chat paused.

"Did what hurt?"

"Whatever made you like this." Marinette blushed. Chat frowned.

"I made me like this." He hissed then shoved another cookie in his mouth.

"Th-that's not what I meant. I'm sorry. That came out more insensitive than I was going for." She looked away sadly. Chat sighed, he hadn't meant to snap at her.

"My ring." He said. Marinette looked back at him, he raised his right hand and pointed to the finger his ring had previously been on. "It is… or was called a Miraculous, or sometimes a Miracle Stone… it gave me my powers." He said. Marinette nodded. "I usually wore it here… but now I wear it in here." He put his hand over his heart above the glowing paw print and smiled softly.

"According to Plagg my heart is now the Miraculous, because when I made a deal with him it was my heart I pledged. I was just pledging it to the Miraculous though. At the time Ladybug was about to die, my transformation had worn off, and I was just weak, boring, useless me. When I pledged my heart, my soul, to the Miraculous I was pledging it to Ladybug. With the pledge came the power to save her, to protect her, to be better, to be good enough to be of any use. And yes; it hurt. It burned as if someone ran me through with a hot poker." His hand clenched above his heart.

"Are you ok with what happened? Is Ladybug ok with this?" Marinette's eyes were sad.

"She told me she was worried about the consequences, that others like me that had pledged to the Miraculous had died young and tragically. Plagg told me that others like me had never been able to lead a normal life again, that they gave up the life they had." Chat took a deep breath. "But Marinette… I've never been so happy before. Sure my home life is still a mess but this just means I can escape whenever I want, just leave. There was always a bit of dread for me, about what my life would be like without the Miraculous, without a purpose; but now I don't have to worry about it. It's not like I want to die, but if it does happen, at least my life would amount to something, I would have done something with it, I would have made a difference." He grinned. "Anyway, I don't plan on dying anytime soon. I have too much to live fur meow."

Marinette sighed.

"I know you did it for the right reasons Chat… But don't you worry about the consequences too?"

Chat was silent then he shook his head.

"I'm not sure what the consequences are exactly. Other than having to be Chat Noir until I die. Which I don't imagine will happen anytime soon."

Marinette was quiet. Chat sighed.

"Don't tell me you're worried about this too."

"I don't know Chat, maybe you're not taking this seriously enough. A soul, a heart, is an awfully big thing to give away." Marinette moved to put her hand on his shoulder then seemed to think better of it.

"It's late, I should go. I'm keeping you up. You have school." Chat pulled away and walked to the edge of the balcony, jumped onto the railing and perched there for a moment. "Goodnight Princess."

"Goodnight Chat."

And then he was gone.

Adrien was absent.

Marinette knew he was at a photo shoot but that didn't help her nerves. Maybe he wouldn't show up, maybe he would drive off with a fabulous young fashion designer leaving Marinette to work in a sweat shop but then 20 years later he would stop by to visit the sweat shop and wouldn't even recognize her because she'd be old from stress and he'd still look fabulous.

Alya told her that it was unlikely. She also told her not to joke about sweatshops. Marinette defended that she wasn't trying to joke but that her imagination ran way with her sometimes.

Alya said she knew.

Marinette waited in her room, unable to concentrate on homework and buzzing with excitement. She had taken Adrien's schedule down and rolled it up, hiding it away where he would never find it. She tried to focus but couldn't. Her hand nervously bounced the pencil in her hand up and down as she tried to focus on calculus.

"Marinette, you're going to wear a hole through the table if you keep taping your pencil like that." Tikki warned. Marinette dropped the pencil and leaned back in her chair.

"I… I'm just so nervous Tikki. What if he doesn't like my ideas? What if I stab him with a needle and he gets tetanus and dies? What if when I'm talking I say something really stupid and he hates me for the rest of his li-"

"Calm down! You're getting too worked up. You're Ladybug! If you can't talk to your crush then no one can. You can do this!"

"He's more than a crush Tikki, he's the love of my life."

"Marinette, you're too caught up in your emotions. You need to relax. Adrien likes you! You don't need to go crazy trying to be someone he likes when you are already friends. There's no need to be nervous." Tikki patted Marinette's hand.

"I don't know. Maybe… I mean what could go wrong?" Marinette smiled, then she started thinking about it and grabbed her head. "So much could go wrong Tikki. He could trip up the stairs and hit his head, he could find my many pictures of him and call me a stalker, then get a restraining order, then I'd have to go to a new school, cut off from Alya and especially Adri-"

"Marinette! Your friend Adrien is here!" Sabine called from downstairs interrupting Marinette's monologue. Tikki gave a small sigh of relief, slightly amused as Marinette freaked out.

"Ack! That's him! Hide!" Marinette stumbled and fell as Tikki flew off into hiding.

"Just be yourself!" were her last words of encouragement.

Adrien knocked on the door.

"Marinette? Are you ok?"

"Fine! I'm coming." Marinette scampered to her feet and pulled the door open allowing Adrien into her room. He glanced around with a smile.

"Nice room."

"Th-Thanks."

"Where do we begin?"

"Ah… designs… fabrics… no, no, no… designs!" Marinette was shaking slightly as she pulled a drawer open and handed Adrien some sheets of designs. There were several sketches of the cushions and how they would look, various ideas of how to make them easy for students to carry, including the ideas Adrien had suggested. Adrien glanced over them.

"Impressive. I personally prefer this style." He pointed to a square pillow. "Thought this one is cute." He smiled pointed to a small cat shaped cushion doodle. Marinette blushed.

"Y-yeah… I was just thinking of Paris' superheroes. I designed a Ladybug one for Alya and thought Chat Noir might like his own, even if no one ordered one." Marinette pulled a bag out from another drawer. "These are the fabrics I've purchased, I'm hoping to get at least one cushion done a day starting next Monday, but some of the details will be a little bit hard to manage in one day. So I'm thinking we can work on adding the details on the days when the two of us are together." Marinette explained, her words coming easier now that she was focused on a topic she was confident in. "That way we can get a few cushions finished off at a time. Today we just need to work on patterns."

Adrien nodded.

"Do you make your own patterns too?"

"Usually, but sometimes I use patterns I've bought and modify them. It depends on if I like the style."

"Cool." Adrien smiled.

"I-I'll probably make the patterns for the cushions. It's easier to get what I want that way but first we had to settle on a design."

Adrien nodded in agreement, they spent a few minutes talking about the designs when Tom and Sabine poked their heads through the trap door.

"We brought cookies." They chorused with smiles.

"We don't need cookies, we're working." Marinette said curtly, miffed about the interruption. Her parents retreated. Adrien frowned. "Sorry about them." Marinette laughed nervously.

"Your parents seem nice." He offered in their defense.

"Nice yes, but a little overbearing at times." Marinette sighed. Adrien laughed.

"I understand the overbearing part. Honestly I have to word everything very carefully when talking to my father. Not that it happens all that often." He shrugged.

"Maybe he's just b-busy with being the world's leading fashion expert." Marinette offered a small smile.

"Yeah." Adrien focused on the designs, but cast a glance over at Tom and Sabine who had cracked the door open and were listening in. He smiled at them while Marinette glared. The door snapped shut.

"I don't quite have the talent you do…" Adrien sighed but he pulled a folded up paper out of his back pocket and handed it to Marinette, "But I hope they are decent enough to make sense."

Marinette took the designs and surveyed them; he had made diagrams showing how the straps connected. He had written neat instructions off to the side explaining his hastily drawn designs.

"This is a good idea. I like the variations. I think Rose would appreciate the bow on this one." She smiled. Adrien smiled back and her heart melted.

"I've actually never done any sewing or design before." Adrien admitted.

"Oh… I'm sure you'll be fine." Marinette assured.

"Thanks for the vote of confidence… I just wanted to feel useful… and to be honest… I wanted to get to know you a little bit better without you… you know… running away." Adrien looked sheepish. Marinette turned bright red.

"I… I'm sorry!"

"Don't get flustered! I'm… I shouldn't have said anything." He looked away seeming angry with himself.

"No! It's ok! I mean I love having you in my room… well not my room… yes… I like seeing you I mean! You're nice, you're funny, you're smart, you're handsome…" Marinette realized what she said and covered her face while she blushed.

"Marinette?" Adrien jumped confused by her sudden embarrassment. Marinette turned away from him. "Marinette?" Adrien prompted again. She just shook her head.

"I'm sorry." Adrien offered. Marinette jumped.

"Sorry what for?"

"I've made you uncomfortable. It wasn't my intention. I… I've seen the way you act around other people. How protective you are of them, how kind, compassionate, and I guess… I guess I wanted to be your friend too. You know?" Adrien's voice was soft, quiet, like he was telling her a secret. "You just get so flustered around me. I wasn't sure why but… I thought if we hung out more you might be less so." He explained. Marinette's heart skipped a beat, he'd complimented her, he thought highly of her, and he looked so worried now that he'd spoken. Like he was waiting for her to reject him.

Unfortunately she didn't have a chance to reply when a scream sounded from outside. Adrien jumped up and ran to the window Marinette behind him.

People were running from what looked like an archer from the MMORPG Adrien and Nino had been talking about the previous day. Adrien balked as the archer neared the bakery. Adrien pulled her down to the ground and away from the window.

"I'm going to make sure you're parents are ok!" Adrien jumped up running to the door and flinging it open. "Stay here, stay safe." Adrien ordered. He ran down the stairs closing the door behind him. Marinette frowned then peeked out the window watching the Archer. His arrows had glowing blue tips, they were shaped like small rods and when the touched someone they exploded into various colored gems which the Archer collected in a bag. He also had arrows with golden tips, when they touched people the people turned to EXP, which the Archer collected to level up.

"Tikki, Transform; Ladybug!" Marinette called, and Tikki zoomed out of her hiding place and into Marinette's earrings transforming her into a superhero.

Ladybug slipped onto the roof stealthily. Chat Noir was already on the scene dodging arrows fired at him by the Archer, at one point knocking an arrow into a nearby car, which exploded into a shower of gems. Ladybug swung into action and grabbed Chat out of the way of a golden arrow and onto a nearby rooftop. They took cover behind a chimney.

"My Lady." Chat winked. "I was _quivering_ , but then you arrived."

"Save the puns Chat, let's figure out where his Akuma is." She peeked around the edge to try and survey the situation. The Archer fired at her and she narrowly dodged an arrow and she took cover.

"Straight to the _point_ as always." Chat grinned. Ladybug sighed.

"It's hard to get a good look at him when he's firing arrows at us constantly."

"I'll draw his _sights_ elsewhere."

"Wait, Chat!" Ladybug called, but he was suddenly gone, leaving Ladybug on the roof alone.

She heard him laughing as he vanished. His laughter echoed around the street, the Archer looked wildly around for his target. She spotted Chat leaning against a light post below, the Archer did too and let an arrow fly but Chat slipped around the edge of the post and vanished again. Ladybug frowned deciding not to think about Chat's antics as she tried to figure out which object the Akuma had inhabited.

"I don't want to get in _a-row_ with you." Chat laughed. The Archer turned around. Chat was sitting on top of a car that had been abandoned in the middle of the road during the panic.

"Then bequeath to me your Miraculous." The Archer yelled as he let another arrow fly. Chat dodged, then slipped off the car walking toward the Archer.

"I am the best Archer in the woods! I will not be undone by mere _cat_." The Archer notched another arrow.

"You can't get a _bow_ -nus by attacking people in real life you know." Chat laughed, knocking the arrow to the side.

"I don't see why not!" The Archer protested as he fired again. Chat caught the arrow seconds away from his chest, and let it fall to the ground, obviously showing off. He then pulled out his baton and clicked a button, a sharp green blade extended from the handle. Chat gave a lazy grin.

"I'll give you the chance to surrender, I am master of the sword." Chat took stance. Ladybug was mildly impressed. He seemed to know what he was doing and on top of that he had an actual sword.

"I will not submit to a sword welding cat!" The Archer show four arrows at a time, Chat cleaved them in half, the Archer rapidly retreating as Chat advanced.

"Paladin, or in this case _Puuurladin_." Chat laughed at his own pun. "This is why you need to focus on all fields, not just Archery. Your talent _arrow_ des in close combat." He taunted. Ladybug noticed a glint of metal on the Archer's vest and concentrated on it.

"I have bested all who dare defy me! I am the proclaimed champion! I will prove it to you all!" The Archer aim another arrow at Chat, this one had a red arrowhead instead of the blue rod.

"THE PIN! THE PIN ON HIS VEST!" Ladybug called to Chat. It was a small badge proclaiming victory in an online gaming tournament. Too late she realized she had stepped into the open and away from the chimney to call to Chat.

The Archer was quick, his arrow flying for her, Ladybug didn't even have time to take a step back before she heard the sound of the arrow piercing flesh and saw the tip of an arrow sticking out through fabric, blood pouring from the wound. She began to realize she was staring at the arrow in someone else's chest.

"Too bad he wasn't a Bard." Chat cracked a pained grin.

"CHAT!" She called. Another arrowhead pierced his chest, spraying her with blood. She jumped pulling him back across the roof with her, he grunted, she saw the back of another arrow sticking out of his shoulder. She pulled him behind a wall where the Archer wouldn't be able to see them and sat him down carefully trying not to disturb the arrows and cause him further pain. Chat looked up at her with a weak smile, blood coating his lips.

"YOU STUPID CAT! WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS DOING THIS! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO DO THIS?" Ladybug held his face forcing him to look at her for he didn't have the strength to hold his head up on his own.

"I couldn't let you get hurt," he said as if it should be obvious. Ladybug swallowed hard. Chat blinked away tears and coughed. His voice was raspy and there was a horrible sound sucking coming from his chest every time he tried to breathe. He coughed again; blood began trickling from his mouth. Ladybug wiped tears away from her eyes.

"COME OUT AND PLAY LADYBUG!" The Archer yelled from the street below. Ladybug held Chat close trying to ignore the way the blood spurted from the wound and the sucking noises his breathes made.

"You stupid cat… you stupid, stupid cat." Ladybug cried

"Ladybug…" He took her hand and squeezed it. "I… I love you." He smiled at her. "I might not get a chance to say it again." He looked torn.

"Shut up, you're not gonna die. You're not allowed to." She sobbed.

"There's a girl… Marinette… tell her I won't be back." Chat was having difficulties keeping his eyes open. "Tell h… her… I'm sorry."

"No, you have to tell her yourself!" Ladybug protested. Chat was struggling hard to breathe.

"You'll do… fine without me… my Lady… you always… always have." He assured.

"I need you Chat! We're partners. We're a team. You have to hold on."

"I don't want to die." Chat looked up at Ladybug scared. Ladybug knew she would be haunted by the look.

"You're not going to die. You're going to live, we have things to do Chat! I can't do this without you."

"My… my Lady… you tell such… b-beautiful lies. I-I've n-never been your knight… you're… y-you're too strong to need one." Chat shivered his grip on her hand slowly loosening. "The g-guy you like… t-tell him." Chat prompted trying to stay focused on Ladybug's face. "Tell him… y-you can do it. Please… tell him."

"Chat?"

"I'm c-c-cold." He shivered. "It's s-so c-c-cold."

"Chat, stay with me. Chat."

"I l-love you," Chat reiterated as he mustered the strength to give her hand another squeeze. His eyes deviated, looking endlessly through her, his body went limp and he shuddered one last time.

She could hear his final breath leaving him like a sigh.

"Chat?" Ladybug shook him. "Chat?" she shook him again. "Please Chat! Chat! Please!" She held him tightly to her and sobbed. She heard screaming from below and remembered the Akuma was still on the loose. She laid Chat down on the roof gently and turned toward the battle.

Ladybug swallowed the lump in her throat. She had to keep it together, she had to focus, and she couldn't let Chat's death affect her judgment. As callous as she felt doing it, she shoved her grief to the side.

She crept to the edge of the roof; the Archer had moved on, he had gone back to using the blue and golden rod arrows and gathering gems and EXP from the people he had shot. She glanced back to where Chat lay, he was on his side, eyes half open and glazed over. She looked away, she couldn't think about that now.

Her usually bright red suit was stained with the dark blood of her partner; she could feel the stickiness of it on her cheeks, her chest, her hands.

She could almost feel her heart breaking as she thought of Chat. She tried to shove away thoughts like "I'll never hear his corny puns again," and, "He and his father are never going to reconcile," and, "I'll have to find out who he is and tell his family, his friends." She ignored the way she wanted to scream at the sky and curse and demand justice. She didn't think about the way patrols would be a one-person job from now on, and she didn't think about how the budding friendship between he and Marinette would be tragically ended. She certainly didn't think about how Tikki had said that the previous Chat Noirs that had made a deal with their Kwami had died young and tragically.

Instead she focused on the task at hand: defeating the Archer.

"LUCKY CHARM!" She called as she flung her yo-yo skyward.

She was left with a bow and a tip-less arrow. She felt as if fate were mocking her, she wanted to throw the arrow down and be rid of it. However, she looked around for its purpose. _A pie and a wad of gum._ She nodded, realization dawned and she swung close, slipping in the bakery and nabbing a pie. She then crept along the sidewalk hiding from the Archer and picked the wad of gum off the end of a bench then she slipped down an alley while she prepared her creation. The Archer started in her direction and Ladybug froze. Chat Noir would be distracting him at this point making her job easier. She shook away thoughts of Chat.

The Archer grew closer. She took a breath hoping silently that Paris would not loose both of its heroes in one day. She withdrew to the rooftops once more and fired her ridiculous arrow: a pie stuck to the end of the arrow with the wad of gum. The pie arrow flew forward right into the Archer's face and whipped cream flew everywhere. He moved to wipe pie out of his eyes. Ladybug knew she had to act fast. She slung the bow over her body knowing she only had so much time until the Archer cleared the pie enough to see. She was too slow, in mid-swing when the Archer realized she was after him and drew an arrow from his quiver.

Ladybug twisted out of the way, adjusted her trajectory, landed on the Archer's chest and spring boarded off grabbing the pin as she went. The Archer fell to the ground; she wasted no time in stomping on it, breaking it and releasing the Akuma.

"You've done enough harm little Akuma. I'm freeing you from evil!"

She captured the Akuma easily and released it as a little white butterfly. The ritual of waving goodbye to the butterfly, skipped in her grief.

"Miraculous Cure!" She flung the bow and arrow skyward as her earrings beeped.

People were returned to the streets, the pie was returned to its proper place, her suit was cleared of blood and the Archer was revealed to be a guy about her age wearing a shirt that said, "MMORPG's got me all a-quiver." This would be the moment where she would fist bump Chat and they would congratulate each other with a "Mission accomplished." But Chat was gone.

Ladybug ignored the interviewers asking for her and helped the Akuma victim to his feet.

"Are you alright?"

"I… I think so." The guy nodded. Ladybug patted him on the back.

"Everything is alright now." She tried to smile, but couldn't.

"Ladybug! Ladybug!" Reporters were clamoring for her attention waving microphones or cameras her way. She saw Alya among them, eager for her next scoop.

"Ladybug, what are you going to do about the increase in Akuma attacks?"

Her earrings beeped again.

"I'm sorry I have to go." She waved them away content to ignore them

"Where's Chat Noir? Isn't he usually with you?"

"Chat?" Ladybug's face fell and she turned away from the cameras. "He's gone." She whispered. The reporters were suddenly asking question after question, all at once. Her earrings beeped. "Sorry, I have to go." She insisted and swung away from the reporters, making sure she was out of sight before she returned to the rooftop she'd left Chat on with two minutes to spare.

But his body was gone.


	4. The Void

It was strange how everything could go from being so painful to so empty all at once.

It took Adrien a while to focus on his surroundings. He both felt weird and didn't feel at all, which of itself was a strange experience.

The oddest thing was he didn't have a body, he was aware of his own existence but it wasn't something tangible. He worried that if he fell asleep he would simply cease to be.

It was neither dark, nor light, cold, nor warm, the place seemed to exist in the same state of nothingness yet extreme endlessness as his consciousness did.

It seemed to be forever before it dawned on Adrien that he had died. He wasn't sure how long he'd been dead, just that he had died. It seemed an eternity had passed, but as was the way of the afterlife it had also been no time at all. Eventually his surroundings took shape, an endless nebula floated around him, space and time stretching endlessly. And eventually Adrien took form, sometimes a blonde and grinning Chat, sometimes a reserved blonde model, and sometimes a strange combination of the two.

He continued to float there forever, and yet it felt like no time at all, he felt like this was all his life from here on would ever be, his consciousness left to flit about in the void; but then gravity seemed to return and he was falling. He fell faster and faster, a blond boy in a cat suit rushed up to meet him and everything went dark again.

Chat gasped sitting up, abruptly loosing his transformation in the process.

Plagg span out and Adrien barely had time to catch him.

"It's about time you came back." The Kwami said before fainting. Adrien shivered. The world was too loud, too bright and too harsh. He held Plagg close to his chest trying to focus, trying to think, but there was too much stimulus.

He was able to meander to the fire escape, and into the alley. He leaned against the brick wall his heart pounding loudly. His hands shook and he stashed Plagg away in his inner jacket pocket. He still felt over stimulated, even his clothes scratched uncomfortably and were too warm against his skin.

Ladybug swung overhead, he watched, a sudden pain shot through his chest and he slid to his knees. He put his hand over his chest and gasped; the image of an arrow sticking from his chest flashed through his mind.

"I died." Adrien whispered. He touched his chest searching for wounds. He was sore, but there was no blood and no wound. He lifted up his shirt. There was a scar from the arrows that had killed him, but they looked old and well healed. He sighed and pushed himself away from the wall, hugging himself as he made his way back across the street. He glanced up and saw the bakery, instantly remembering what he'd been doing before his untimely death.

"Marinette." He murmured as he made his way toward the bakery, shivering and confused. He hadn't even made it to the door when it opened and Marinette's parents rushed out pulling him inside.

"Are you ok?"

"Are you hurt?"

They pulled him into a tight hug. Adrien blinked caught off guard. Why were they hugging him?

"We were so worried!" Sabine squeezed him tightly; he managed a small groan, his chest still sore.

"Sorry, sorry… are you ok? Are you wounded?" Sabine pulled away surveying him. She paused taking in his face. Adrien's eyes were wide, darting around the room like a cornered cat, his hands gripped his arms tightly and with each shiver they gripped tighter as if afraid he'd fall apart.

"What happened?" Sabine gently touched his shoulder, Adrien jumped at the contact but his eyes focused on Sabine. Why did she care so much? She didn't have any reason to care this much? He realized that he hadn't answered her question.

"I… I don't really remember…" Adrien frowned and shook his head, a shuddering breath leaving him as he shivered. He remembered the arrows, the empty eternity, the stars, and then falling. "Ladybug?" he frowned. Where was his Lady? Was she okay?

"It's ok, she defeated the Akuma." Tom told him. Adrien nodded. The Akuma… The Archer! He lightly touched his chest again where he'd been shot as details began trickling back to him. The Archer had killed him.

Marinette was suddenly running down the stairs, Adrien looked up startled as she came in.

"Adrien?" She paused, distracted by haunted look on Adrien's face. Whatever she'd been rushing to go to was forgotten in the wake of her concern. "Are you ok?"

"Yeah… Just… a shaken up." Adrien didn't even have to lie, though shaken up seemed to be a vast understatement. He didn't want to worry her that much, but another shiver over took him and he curled up tighter.

"Adrien! Oh my god what happened?" she moved toward him looking over him like a concerned mother hen. Adrien opened his mouth, but no sound would come out, he didn't know how to answer or what exactly to say. 'I just came back from the dead,' didn't seem like it would go over well. He closed his mouth again as he tried to think of a plausible lie.

"Adrien came down the stairs and told us to get to safety." Sabine interjected on his behalf. He looked over at her, not sure if that had even been true.

"Then he ran outside a saved a little girl from an arrow. We lost track of him after that but at least he's safe." Tom pitched in, a tinge of pride in his voice.

Adrien took a breath and nodded; he vaguely remembered the events her parent's described, but it was like a memory from a dream. Mostly he remembered his own death and Ladybug's blue eyes pleading for him to stay. Her blue eyes filled with tears, such pain in her expression. He'd let her down, he'd made her cry; he shivered again and tried to expel the memory.

He looked up at Marinette who was looking at him like a puzzle she was trying to solve, and something like pity.

"I'm just a little out of sorts since the Akuma attack… I must have gotten hit with one of his arrows." Adrien forced a laughed and tried to pass it off, his voice was still shaky and he wasn't sure if he'd even convinced himself that he was all right.

"You should be more careful." Marinette folded her arms. "This is the second time you've run off into danger. You're not a superhero. You should wait for Ladybug and Ch… Chat Noir to fix things."

Adrien took Marinette in; her arms crossed her face strict. He wanted to say something but didn't know what. He wasn't given the opportunity to think of anything because Alya ran into the store intent on sharing her recent broadcast with Marinette.

Tom and Sabine turned their attention back on him.

He was slowly warming up. He hadn't realized it before, but his joints were stiff, he was freezing, and his lungs felt full of stale air. Maybe it was because he'd been a bit numb before that he hadn't realized how dead he felt. He took a seat at one of the small tables and stared out the window. Marinette's parents let him be, but sat a pastry and a cup of hot herbal tea in front of him before they returned to running the shop. They seemed to be keeping an eye on him, but let him sit alone. He pressed his hands to the warm cup; it felt nice against his cold skin. He sipped at the tea and nibbled at the warm pastry.

Alya and Marinette seemed pretty preoccupied with Alya's Ladyblog and he was grateful for the chance to think. He peeked briefly inside his jacket pocket, Plagg was still out cold and there would be no use getting cheese before the Kwami woke up. He didn't want to put it off for too long, but he figured he didn't need to run and go find cheese right away; at least for the time being. He worried that he maybe had broken his Kwami by dying while transformed. He wondered if he could die out of costume too, or why he came back at all. He didn't know if it was part of his new powers or if it had been the Miraculous Cure; he'd get answers from Plagg once he woke up. _If he woke up_ ; a small pessimistic thought entered his brain. Adrien paled as he thought about it. _No he has to wake up_ ; Adrien thought forcefully, _he will wake up_ , he decided.

Alya and Marinette soon joined him, and he forced a smile onto his face as Alya shared her video, but he wasn't quite watching it. His thoughts drifted back to Plagg, back to his stiff bones, back to what dying had felt like. Marinette watched him, a frown on her face, before interrupting Alya mid-sentence.

"Adrien… are you alright?" He voice was soft but Adrien jumped at the sudden attention, both Marinette and Alya were scrutinizing him. Eyes scouring his frame in search of answers to questions that had yet to even think of. Adrien forced a smile and an easy laugh, replacing the mask of 'perfect model' without even meaning to.

"Yeah, fine, just… I just hadn't… I guess I hadn't expected to get shot today." He shrugged but his hand wandered to his chest where the arrow had pierced. "But I think I'm alright now. I just haven't been this caught up in an Akuma attack since Horrificator… I guess I wasn't expecting it, since my bodyguard is usually here to whisk me away to safety like some sort of fragile princess." He joked with a dry laugh.

Marinette and Alya exchanged a look that told him the girls didn't believe him. He sighed and stared into his cup, trying to find the words.

"I'm still a little shaken up right now… but I'll be fine honest." He smiled again, this time with more sincerity. "Don't worry about me. I'm tougher than I look." He assured them, they seemed to believe this a bit more, but continued to look at him with concern, like he might break at any second.

His phone began buzzing suddenly; he looked at it; recognizing the number as Nathalie he excused himself from the table to answer it. Nathalie was calling to check in on him after the Akuma attack. She often would make sure he was all right; if he had been close enough to the fight she would usually pick him up and take him to a "secure location," which generally meant home. She usually told him that it was on his father's orders, that they had to make sure he was safe.

"Hi Nathalie." He mumbled into the phone once he was a respectable distance away from the girls.

"Adrien. Are you well? The latest attack was near the Dupain-Cheng bakery, specifically near where you are." Though she masked it well, Adrien could hear a hint of concern in her voice.

"I…" Adrien paused, perhaps too long; as Nathalie interrupted his train of thought.

"I'm coming to get you." She said with finality.

"You don't need to do that. I'm fine." Adrien assured. He'd rather be around people than sequestered away in an ivory tower. Nathalie was silent for a few moments, seeming to think it over.

"I'm coming to get you." Nathalie repeated and hung up. Adrien sighed, he looked back to Marinette and Alya who were both still pitying him with their looks of concern.

"Bad news?" Alya asked when Adrien approached them.

"I have to go. I'm sorry Marinette. I wish I could have been more help." He sighed. "But my father worries… Nathalie is coming to pick me up and take me home." He reported, it was pretty standard, but he didn't get to hang out with Marinette that often.

"It's ok… I mean… well, I will have to manage… not that your help isn't appreciated, its just I don't want to make you feel bad about having to go… but I'd like you to stay. No. I mean… Yeah…" Marinette shrugged with a nervous smile. Adrien smiled back softly a bit charmed by her nervousness.

"I understand." He assured. "Thank you for letting me help thus far, I'll try and contribute more in the future." He promised.

"In the mean time, what's up with Ladybug? I asked Marinette this question but she couldn't say." Alya interjected.

"What do you mean?" Adrien blinked slowly, confused by the question. Alya pulled her phone out and showed him the video she had taken. Ladybug defeated the Akuma and it ended with her swinging out of the camera's view.

"What do you think she meant by 'Chat's gone?' Did he die? Is he on vacation? Did they split up? What's the deal…" Alya frowned. "Eye witness reports say that he was there at the beginning, and he had been distracting the Archer, then he just disappears. No one is clear on the details." Alya frowned.

"Maybe he was hurt and had to leave? I don't know about d-dead." Marinette proposed. Adrien was quiet; Ladybug probably thought he was still dead, unless her Kwami had told her otherwise.

"He's not dead. Cats have nine lives." Adrien said off handedly, Marinette and Alya stared at him. He shook his head. "Sorry. Bad humor. Trying to lighten the mood…" He trailed off and ended with a weak shrug. Alya rolled her eyes but Marinette stared at him curiously.

Adrien looked away. The Gorilla was already pulling up in the car, he'd certainly arrived quickly. It was likely he had already been on his way when Natalie called.

"I should go. I'll see you tomorrow." He lightly touched Marinette's shoulder and gave Alya a soft fist bump before leaving.

The Gorilla opened the door, Adrien climbed in, and the Gorilla shut the door behind him. Adrien glanced out of the window, Alya and Marinette were watching him pull away. He waved; they waved back. Soon they disappeared from sight leaving Adrien alone with the Gorilla.

He sighed still feeling the chill from his recent death. He was quite sure he had died, though he wasn't entirely sure how he was alive if he had died. Maybe his offhand comment about cats having nine lives held more truth then he had initially thought.

Once home he'd stopped in the kitchens picking up a sizeable cut of the best Camembert before returning to his room. He gently set Plagg next to the cheese so that I might be the first thing Plagg noticed when he woke up. _If he woke up_ , the little voice said again. The Kwami did seem to perk up a bit when he smelled the cheese but didn't quite come to. Adrien frowned, worried about the annoying cat god and then sat on his bed.

The harsh chaos of life seemed to have quieted down, the sun was less glaring and his skin didn't feel so raw and new to life. He lied down, rather than sat, and closed his eyes; it made him feel a bit better. He wanted to transform, to go to Ladybug and tell her he was all right… but it seemed that he was stuck as Adrien for the time being. He moved to twist the ring on his finger, momentarily forgetting that there was no ring anymore. His breath caught in his throat before he remembered the deal he'd made with Plagg and how the Miraculous became his heart. He let himself drift away, falling deep asleep; dying was exhausting.

* * *

Marinette had come home feeling empty, she wanted to cry or scream or feel anything, but she just felt empty. She detransformed and slipped back into her bedroom window. She slowly lowered herself to the ground taking in deep breaths and trying to figure out what to do next. Tikki flew to her side and gently tugged at her cheek.

"Marinette…"

"He's gone… he's just gone… his body… what happened? Did the miraculous cure heal him? Or did he… did he just disappear?" Marinette turned toward Tikki. Tikki sighed.

"Marinette… He's alive. He's probably dazed and confused as his civilian self but he's alive. One of the perks of his deal with Plagg is that he has nine lives. He can literally die 9 times and come back from the dead." Tikki looked away. "But it comes at a price, his soul… it gets broken little by little to bring him back, he'll still be alive, but slowly bits of himself are going to be lost in limbo, it's what drives some of the Chat Noirs insane… its one of many reasons why I hate it when Plagg makes that deal." She muttered. Marinette blinked away tears.

"He's alive?" her heart soared. Chat was alive. She would see him again; she would hear his puns again and see his stupid goofy grin. "He's alive…" she repeated.

"Yes… but he's probably feeling very confused as to where he is right now, coming back from the dead is very disorienting." Tikki sighed. Marinette nodded.

"I have to find him!"

"He's probably his civilian self right now! How will you know it's him?" Tikki asked as she zoomed into Marinette's pocket.

"There can't be that many dazed blonds wandering around." Marinette pointed out. She raced down the stairs and into the bakery, intending to go find Chat, despite the fact that he might be a civilian, except a very different blond caught her attention first. Adrien seemed like he had seen a ghost. He was pale and ashen and moved with stiff movements like everything hurt, his eyes slowly moved to her, a dazed and confused look on his face.

Thoughts of Chat drifted out of her head as she rushed to his side worrying over him. Her parent's told her that he had saved a little girl and then disappeared. She bit her lip, Adrien was staring into space looking cold and still looking pale. Her own words came back to her, after all, how many dazed blonds did she see outside. Adrien definitely matched the description of someone who looked like they came back from the dead, but she wasn't ready to connect Adrien with Chat Noir. It had to be a mistake right? Adrien was just too different, too perfect while Chat Noir was goofy mess.

She watched him closely, until Alya burst through the door, immediately showing her the latest footage of the fight with the archer. So Adrien wandered off sitting at a table with a hot drink while his colour slowly returned and Alya tried to pull Marinette into a deep discussion about the latest video.

Eventually, Alya spotted Adrien and moved to show him her video once Marinette had seen it, Mari followed, sitting at the table with him. Adrien gave them a forced smile and Marinette's frown deepened. He looked at the video but didn't seem to be watching it, his eyes glazed over.

Marinette prodded him again asking if he was okay, he tried to assure them, but he didn't seem sure of himself. Before Marinette could challenge him again, to ask if he was _really_ okay, or to try to see if he was Chat Noir; his phone rang drawing him out of the conversation. Marinette shook her head. It was silly to think that Adrien was Chat Noir, other than them both being blonde and having green eyes they had nothing in common.

After Adrien left the table Alya turned to Marinette with that investigative spark in her eye.

"What does Ladybug me by 'he's gone?' Do you think something happened to Chat?" She frowned at the video. "She looks pretty broken up about something… maybe Chat has gone somewhere? I need theories." Alya insisted.

"Maybe… Maybe they got into a fight?" Marinette suggested, though she knew for sure that wasn't what happened. Alya nodded seeming satisfied with this answer, she launched into a new bout of theories about what they could be fighting over or if the superhero duo had broken up for good.

Marinette sighed, she wanted to find Chat, but he'd probably wandered off by now, she wasn't sure if she'd find him in time. She glanced out the window looking for anyone who matched Chat's description: blonde, green eyes, dazed like they'd just come back from the dead… but no one really fit that description. She thought back to Adrien and frowned.

"Girl, you've been zoning out this entire time what's wrong?" Alya frowned, setting her phone down.

"I'm just worried about Adrien, he seemed really out of it. Do you think he's going to be okay?" Marinette worried. Alya smiled at her and patted her hand.

"He'll be fine, he always is." She reassured. Marinette nodded.

"You're probably right." She agreed, but she made a mental note to bring Adrien a croissant the next day, before turning her full attention toward Alya's continued theories on what may have happened to Chat Noir.

Adrien rejoined the table a moment later, Alya turning to look at him, and inquiring about the phone call.

"I have to go. I'm sorry Marinette. I wish I could have been more help." He sighed. "But my father worries… Nathalie is coming to pick me up and take me home." Marinette nodded, she tried to offer him comfort, to tell him that it was fine, but she kept tripping over her words before trailing off and blushing. Adrien smiled, he understood, and seemed to get the spirit of what she was trying to say. Alya turned to Adrien and began to question him about the whole "He's gone" thing; throwing out her theories right away; including one that suggested that Chat was dead, which Marinette quickly spoke against.

"He's not dead. Cats have nine lives." Adrien said, making Marinette sit up straighter and stare at him. He looked sheepish and tried to pass it off as a bad joke. Was he Chat? Marinette stared at him and tried to make the connection; he was about the same height, and of course he was blond and had green eyes… but Chat's hair was longer and more untamed. She had no reason to believe that he wouldn't have the same hair style both in and out of costume, she certainly did. Plus Chat's posture was usually different, he carried him self with more swagger than Adrien… then again Adrien did seem out of it right now. Her thoughts swirled, making connections which she then proceeded to destroy because she couldn't afford to be wrong about Adrien being Chat. Adrien was beginning to look uncomfortable; Marinette wondered if she had been staring at him too long; but then, his driver pulled up and he left, waving to them through the window. They waved until they couldn't see him anymore before Alya turned back to Marinette.

"What is up with you today girl? You're more out of it than usual, and that's saying something." She raised an eyebrow at Marinette.

"Oh… you know… just the usual." She shrugged, her mind still trying to make connections between Adrien and Chat, but only ending up talking herself in circles. Alya frowned and gently shook her.

"Did spending an afternoon with Adrien break you?" She teased.

"Hmmm? What?" Marinette blinked back into reality, suddenly remembering that she and Adrien had been working together before he'd left. Despite him mentioning the project before he left, she'd let her thoughts be carried away in a mental storm about whether or not Adrien was Chat. The project, and their closeness had been momentarily forgotten; she blushed as she thought back to it. At least she hadn't been a complete mess, Alya chuckled at her and patted her on the back.

"Oh my sweet Mari." She teased. "Lets go inside and work on those pillows."

Marinette nodded, shifting her focus onto the project, and (for now) abandoning the idea that Adrien was Chat Noir.

* * *

Sorry about the long wait between updates.

This chapter was a pain to write; Chat's death and rebirth was a mess, I must have rewrote the thing at least 6 times before I was even moderately pleased with it. Then I let it sit for a few weeks, then weeks turned into months, and no matter how many times I came back to it I just hated the writing. The initial concept had this sort of skeletal/ghostly cat that represented death at least for cats, then the cat led him back to life and he had to get through this door to get back to life. I found this idea weird and tedious, but I like certain visual elements of the narrative, such as the endless void that becomes swirling galaxies; and how Adrien takes some sort of form, but it wavers, because he doesn't know who he wants to be or which version of himself is 'really' him. etc. So I grappled with this thing for a while, coming back to it every few weeks and hating, but I finally created something I'm happy with, but unfortunately, given all of the things and ideas I ended up scrapping, this chapter is much shorter than the others.

Anyway I hope you enjoy reading and I'll see you soon (I hope.)


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